


When Meeting A Hurricane

by LamiaCor



Category: Peter Jackson (The Hobbit), The Hobbit
Genre: Action, Adventure, Angst, Comedy, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, Peter Jackson films, Romance
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-11-01
Updated: 2016-06-06
Packaged: 2018-04-29 08:23:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 33,368
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5121503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LamiaCor/pseuds/LamiaCor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>What happens when you meet a hurricane? When a half elf suddenly ventures into Mirkwood and finds herself in a twist that quickly changes her route to Rivendell, will she find her heart still twisting and churning like a hurricane? Or will her new adventure bring her into a gentle drizzle that calms her own troubles?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Unexpected Meetings

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first time writing a fic for LoTR/The Hobbit so forgive me (for now) if there are mistakes and I hope you guys enjoy this story!  
> I've also been writing this while listening to Of Monsters and Men, THE FEELS ARE REAL.  
> *  
> Adar-Father  
> Elandili-Half elf

**_ CHAPTER 1: _ **

_Taking her slim hands into his own soft and gentle ones, the elf lord sighed, his heart saddened at his guest’s sudden and quick leave._

_“You are always welcome to return, if you wish.” The elf lord said, his grey eyes shimmering kindly under the setting sun before the two of them._

_She looked up at her gracious host-Lord Elrond, realizing once again how ageless he seemed despite him actually being over 6,000 years old._

_Smiling, Neera put her other hand over the elf’s, relishing the gentle warmth of his skin that reminded her so much of her own adar’s._

_“I deeply thank your kindness, Lord Elrond.” She smiled before a quiet chuckle left her lips. “Despite me being such a trouble in your house, you would still allow me to come and visit?”_

_At the memory of her almost always falling into the ponds and almost breaking many timeless relics in his house, Lord Elrond chuckled, his deep voice audible even through the gentle roar of the waterfalls crashing next to them._

_It’s been years since the young Elandili met with the elf lord. And at their first meeting, Elrond could still remember her pointing a dagger at his face because of Neera simply mistaking him for trying to take her prisoner because she suddenly appeared in his homeland bearing nothing but a weary face and exhausted weapons._

_“I am not trespassing.” She said, “Come any closer and I will put this dagger between your eyes.”_

_At the memory, he stared at the half-elf before him, chuckling once again as he watched the slight twinkle of mischief hide behind her dark brown eyes._

_“You will always be welcome here, dear Neera.” He simply said, a fond smile on his face. With their goodbyes, the young girl gently pulled away with a gracious smile, watching the Lord’s long, black hair whipping against the wind as her feet led her out of Rivendell._

 

* * *

 

At such a fond memory, the black haired girl sighed tiredly to herself, wobbling as she walked through the thick forest of trees. Her dark brown eyes slowly rolled upwards, looking towards the canopy of the dark wood, straining to catch a glimpse of the sun or even the blue sky.

“Confound it all.” she muttered to herself in frustration, feeling her throat burning in annoyance as she finally stopped trudging through the dead leaves on the ground, staring at particularly nothing as the exhaustion slowly started to wash over her.

‘ _Why did I have to chase that rabbit into this damned forest?’_  she thought to herself, her knees finally numbing from the pain of walking for hours on end. 

So far, it’s been 3 days since Neera had gotten lost in the dark forest of Mirkwood.

She had, in fact, been told that going through this forest was nowhere near a good plan for it was now a forest of darkness. The trees had gotten sick, a blackness eating at them as life started to fester and grow new creatures- creatures of darkness and evil that seemed to thrive under the thick air of illusion blanketing the forest.

The thought of merely placing one toe into Mirkwood never even crossed Neera’s mind. But she had been travelling for days in search of old Rivendell where Lord Elrond’s house was found.

At the thought of peaceful Rivendell and her gracious friend whom she hadn’t seen for a very long time, Neera sighed another heavy sigh, regretting having chased that rabbit into the forest.

“And it got away too. Tch, how ridiculous…” she muttered to herself as she recalled stumbling over branches and rocks just to kill a single rabbit that wasn’t even worth calling a decent meal.

Neera groaned into her palms, trying to drive away the drowsiness setting in her head as the heavy air of the forest weighed on her back.

She had to get out of here somehow. She just has to find the path-the path she caught sight of while she was fumbling over her feet trying to catch the rabbit.

But for these past days, all she’s been doing was go in circles, curse herself for being so ignorant and daydream about food and water from Rivendell.

The last time she visited the place was 2 years ago and she only left because of news that her mother was falling ill and needed someone to look after her. But after a few weeks, her loving mother finally gave into the sickness and passed away, leaving Neera nothing but loneliness and her troublesome relatives that all but stole her home and belongings through cheap threats and trickery.

Now that she had literally nothing left, she decided to head to Rivendell, hoping that the Lord Elrond was still there waiting to have his old vases and maps almost ruined by Neera’s troublesome hands and that he would let her live there for the rest of her chosen human life.

Though, with the situation she’s in, the quest of getting to a warm bed and kind friends was starting to seem extremely bleak.

 

* * *

 

 As she clutched at her bow and arrow, staring into the intricate carvings dug into the smooth wood, the young girl felt her back tense as a strange heaviness started to weigh on the back of her neck.

‘ _I’m being watched, am I?_ ’ she thought to herself as she continued to stare at her bow, pretending not to notice the eyes that were watching her.

Listening, she could hear a faint whisper of movement under the leaves of the tall trees. A quiet shudder from the bushes and a hair raising scuttling of padded feet attached to long, hairy legs.

These past days, the spiders didn’t bother to attack her. One of the reasons probably being the fact that Neera had always been light footed. One could even compare her to the Hobbits of the Shire despite her looking more like a human than a Halfling.

At the thought and sound of giant spiders drawing closer, the young girl nonchalantly started to arm her bow, slowly pulling a long arrow from her quiver, the weapon topped with a stone arrowhead sharp and hard enough to go through the thickest Orc skull.

Staring at the dead leaves standing still before her, her ears continued to follow the spiders as they scuttled through branches, each step of their long legs sounding louder and louder with each passing moment.

 She never liked spiders. Not even the tiny, harmless ones.

For reasons she doesn’t quite understand, Neera had always found them disturbing and gross, especially with the many eyes that seemed to never even blink. And because of word that spiders have nested in these woods, she was more than ready to burn the place down if ever one of the cursed things came near her.

Right then, the sound of a branch hitting a tree and tumbling towards the ground made Neera twitch and forget about her thoughts.

‘ _Here it comes_.’ The young girl thought as she felt the familiar tingle run up her spine, the warm and wild tumbling of her heart as she got ready for a very disgusting battle.

But as she was about to let her arrow fly into the bushes and into the head of an unsuspecting spider, Neera finally noticed that they were all moving, not towards her, but to somewhere else. Obviously finding what made the noise more interesting and alive than her.

Her eyelids fluttering in slight confusion, she knit her brows as she pulled down her weapon, finally feeling her drowsiness dissipating.

As she was about to get up and make for a path that was free of arachnids, Neera suddenly heard some kind of crisp, pulling noise adding to the sound of groans and whimpers.

Blinking, she pulled her head up to see the numerous cocoons slowly descending from the trees above her.

Seeing such a sight, the young Elandili’s gasps and whimpers of fright while she tried her utter best to dodge the cocoons were quite understandable. Especially since one of them practically crashed over her head, making her squeak like a mouse under the sudden incredibly heavy weight that squirmed over her small body.

 

“Ugh! Ughh, get this off me!!” one very low and rough voice growled as Neera watched all the cocoons wriggling angrily before vey unexpected creatures ripped through the webs.

From under one of the cocoons, Neera watched as the one lying before her was ripped into shreds, quickly exposing what seemingly was a bearded dwarf.

Studying him, Neera took note of his pointed nose and long, slightly wavy black and very messy hair tangled with cobwebs and dry leaves. Along with that, the dwarf was donning a very thick coat, fur cloaking his broad shoulders and armor shielding his forearms.

At present, Neera was keen on keeping herself hidden from the sight of these dwarves since for one-she was too shocked with the fact that she wasn’t actually alone in this forest. And two, with dwarves falling from the sky, who in the name of Valar wouldn’t be shocked?

 

Hiding like a crab under a (very heavy) rock, Neera simply winced under the heavy weight, thankful that despite her small frame, her bones were trained to be resilient against heavy objects and creatures.

Right when she thought her plan was doing well, the dwarf growling with annoyance before her turned his head to his comrades, about to say something when he saw her from the corner of his eye.

With large, beady dark eyes blinking at him, Thorin Oakenshiled felt his heart jump a bit, slightly taken back by the set of orbs staring up at him with confusion and shock.

Noticing that this creature was most probably a human, the dwarf prince looked to question whoever was unlucky enough to have Bombur squirming on top of their back.

“Who are you?” he asked, his low and gravelly voice booming through his other companions who were now back on their feet. Except for the one lying on top of Neera.

Hearing his king’s question, Bombur knit his brows together.

“It’s me, Bombur!” he exclaimed, sounding slightly offended and sad that the king had forgotten his name.

“Not you.” Thorin said, stiffly staring back at Neera, his piercing blue eyes instantly making the young girl shudder under her skin. “That.”

Staring at the way her eyes glared at him despite sparking with a slight touch of fear and nervousness, the dwarf prince thought that this little thing was probably simply lost.

Bombur, confused with Thorin’s words, knit his thick brows together and glanced down.

Upon seeing the practically flattened girl under him, he gasped, squirming even more and trying to get himself off the strange girl (who tried to suppress amusing groans while Bombur tried to pull himself up).

With the other dwarves quickly helping Bombur up and successfully getting him off the poor girl, Neera took a giant and very much needed gasp of air, coughing a bit with her sudden intake before she shakily pulled herself up.

Never had she thought that a dwarf could be heavier than a big, round boulder!

Getting to her feet, Thorin studied the girl, taking note of her simple and long grey coat, the buttons left open and exposing her dark brown tunic and black pants tucked into brown boots that were evidently used too much.

“I am-“

“ ** _KIIIEAAAAA!_**!” the spiders shrieked, suddenly appearing from the east, their many eyes quite angry with the fact that their meals had escaped.

“ **RUN!!!** ” Thorin shouted before they all sprinted off, their short legs easily taking them far away from the angry spiders that quickly increased in spine shuddering numbers.

 

Grimacing at the sight of spiders practically nipping at her leather boots, Neera quickened her pace, easily sprinting past the dwarves as she headed straight for the open area filled with dried leaves.

If she was to fight, she will fight in a place where she’s perfectly comfortable in.

Turning on her heel and making the dried leaves flutter under her light feet, she pulled her bow back and set loose the first arrow, feeling the waves of satisfaction (and relief) as she watched her trusty weapon sail straight through one of the arachnid's head, making it screech in pain before it went limp.

With that, angry screeches grew from the other spiders as their anger fueled them to attack the dwarves and Peredhil.

While the other dwarves were busy hacking, slicing and pulling apart other spiders, Neera was practically a storm, whirling gracefully through the flurry of axes and shouts of dwarves, her arrows never missing her favorite mark on the spider’s heads as, one by one, she let her arrows fly, angrily slapping a spider away with her bow when they came too close to her.

Once the spiders were clear, they started to run once again, hoping not to encounter any more of the hungry and angry creatures.

Being ahead of the dwarves, Neera looked ahead, craning her head to see if there were more spiders lurking about as she listened to the dwarves clamor behind her.

“Let’s-“

Neera was suddenly toppled unto her back, her bow falling out her hands and her arrows scattering over her head.

Grunting, she whipped her head up to see one of the spider’s pinning her down with its heavy and hairy body as it hissed, its many teeth and long fangs bared at the young girl as it tried to bite her face off.

A growl rippling through her throat, she started pummeling the creature with her fists but with her luck, Neera had never been good when it came to close, hand-to-hand combat. Annoyed with her weak fighting skills, she did her best to overpower the beast, feeling her slender arms shake tremors as she pushed the spider’s fangs away.

 

The dwarves were about to come to her aid, shouting and clamoring about the young girl when, from the top of his eye, Thorin caught a glance of silver blonde hair whipping through the wind.

Looking up, his eyes landed on a young man running through the trees with certain and lithe steps before he gripped the thick string of silk coming from one spider’s abdomen, easily whirling down the string before landing atop the spider’s head with a grunt, making the creature shriek as it fell with a loud THUD! and slid through the leaves with its passenger on top.

Jumping through the air like a cat, he quickly somersaulted, landing atop the spider shrieking at Neera’s face and launched an arrow through its head, his pull on the arrow so strong it went straight through the spider and almost impaled Neera’s own head.

 

Under the spider and elf, the young Elandili grimaced, cringing at the non-existent space between her and the dead spider’s vomit-inducing breath.

Clicking her tongue in annoyance, Neera tried to squirm free of (once again) the heavy, dead weight caging her of air and freedom but as she was doing so, she watched the young blonde elf pull another arrow into his bow, pointing it right at the dwarf prince’s face.

Growing extremely impatient, a loud and feral growl ripped through Neera’s throat before she shouted-

“ **GET OFF ME!!** ”

At the shout echoing through the forest, the blonde elf whipped his head down, his grey eyes landing on Neera’s own very angry and annoyed eyes.

Despite being quite calm and quiet on the outside, Neera had always been famous in her old hometown for her quick to change moods and easy temper if she was ever cornered.

Knitting his brows in quiet confusion, the young elf jumped off the spider’s back, allowing Neera to push her way out of the creature. Watching the young girl struggling out of the spider’s dead body, the dwarf prince decided to give her help, leaning down and gripping her slender arms as he easily pulled her out.

Glancing up, she saw the dwarf prince stare at her with a strange look that still questioned her identity. Blinking, Neera pulled herself up (with the help of the dwarf) and offered a quiet thanks which Thorin gave back with a small nod.

Looking around, she finally realized they were now swarmed. Not by spiders, but elves. With their arrows pointed right at them, needless to say, Neera was now thoroughly confused.

‘ _A quick and quiet trip to Rivendell, was it_?’ her conscience quipped.

Right then,

“HELP!”

Hearing the cry, one of the ginger haired dwarves shouted, “KILI!!”

Whipping her head back she caught sight of one of the dwarves being pulled by the leg, one of the spiders still trying to bring him as a meal while the others started to swarm towards him.

Feeling the urge to help, Neera was about to sprint towards him but fell to a stop when a she-elf quickly appeared, jumping over spiders and easily slashing her daggers through them.

After lots of shrieks and angry roars, the forest was finally silent, nothing but a tense air filling Neera’s chest.

With a heavy sigh, she went to retrieve her bow and quiver but was easily stopped by the blonde elf who quickly pointed his arrow to her temple. Behind her, Neera could hear the other arrows aimed towards her head.

 

“Fearlessly walking to your weapons as if you were in no trouble, quite a foolish move isn’t it?” the blonde elf hummed, his voice as cool as a breeze despite spitting insults at Neera.

Usually, elves are quite kind to humans and Legolas Greenleaf noticed Neera as one herself, but with her actions just now, the voice in the back of his head easily told him she was going to be quite troublesome if he let her do as she wished.

Staring at him and not realizing this was the prince of the Woodland Realm, Neera simply narrowed her eyes at him.

Feeling tired and slightly annoyed, the young girl decided doing what the elves wanted was probably a more quiet and easy road.

The last time she tried to fight an elf (which was quite recently), she was easily outnumbered and almost taken prisoner if it wasn’t for her nimble feet.

Needless to say, the elves searched them for weapons. For Neera there was really no need to do so since she travelled really lightly. That is to say, she only walked through the wilderness with nothing but her bow and arrows, grey coat and a little bit of pocket money to use if she ever got to a town and needed food or lodgings.

With the blonde elf pulling his attention towards the dwarf prince, all including Neera were led out the forest. On the other hand, Neera was simply confused, wanting to say Lord Elrond’s name and her reason for being in the woods before she was rudely interrupted by a rough push on her back.

“Where are you taking us?!” Neera growled, feeling her anger boiling for she hated being pushed around. Most especially by strangers who quickly pulled her wrists into heavy chains and took her bow and quiver. 

‘ _If Lord Elrond could see me now_.’ she thought, he’d be definitely trying to pull her away just to get her to calm down.

“They’re taking us to the Woodland Realm.”

Neera turned to the old voice she heard, seeing a dwarf with snow-white hair and a long beard just as white. He stared up at her, curious and slightly worried for the young girl.

Hearing such a place, Neera felt her heart quicken for she knew just as well as any other elf what the Woodland Realm was. It was the domain of the Elvenking-one of the people Neera wasn’t quite keen on meeting in person.


	2. Mysterious Shadows and Newfound Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Nana-Mother/mommy

**_ CHAPTER 2: _ **

**__ **

 After a slightly long walk, they finally crossed a stone bridge lain gently over a smooth river, a waterfall roaring next to them as they marched towards tall, intricately decorated blue doors.

With the sound of the cascading waterfall, Neera couldn’t help but feel her shoulders quickly relax. Despite being held prisoner for the moment, her foul mood was always easily swayed by the gentle sounds of nature.

 Pulling her head up, she studied the fortress sitting solidly right before her. Her eyes wandered the stone columns, sculpted and carved to look like tree branches weaving tightly into each other.

Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm the rising storm quietly forming in her chest while she finally took a step into the stronghold, passing the two quiet guards donning silver armor.

She wasn’t nervous simply because she was to meet the great Elvenking who was quite famous for his easy temper that rivaled her own, for a greater fright entered her mind.

 She was about to enter a fortress.

Even as a young child, Neera has always hated being kept indoors or in tight places. It made her feel all too tiny, like a hopeless animal stuck in a cage and it sucked the air out of her lungs every time she entered a small enclosure.

So as a child, her parents would even go as far as always leaving the balcony doors open, just so she would stop crying and fall into sleep.

But other than her fear of being caged like a bird, structures like these reminded her of her dear, handsome and sweet _adar_ who died fatally in a battle against Orcs, falling into death along with his other kin.

She was only 7 when she lost her father and started to see her mother fall deeper into depression at each day of his absence. 

Though now after 11 more years, she was a tad more tolerant of enclosed spaces and had almost made her peace with her past, remembering that since she had chosen to lead a human life, she didn’t have all the time in the world like her father would have.

Upon entering, she gritted her teeth, readying her heart when immediately, her eyes felt lighter, more relived and relaxed all thanks to the dim and gentle lights hanging high over her head.

‘ _So this is the Woodland Realm_.’ Neera thought as she walked slower, unable to resist gazing through the halls, the tall, intricately designed columns of rock, endless passages and tunnels visible as far as her widened eyes could see. Soon, she felt the weight on her heart slowly disappearing as a strange warmth wrapped around her entire self.

 

* * *

 

She couldn’t even notice the red haired she-elf watching her back as she quietly stared through the halls, studying the King’s halls in absolute bewilderment and awe instead of looking quite worried and scared like a usual human would.

‘ _Who is she_?’ Tauriel thought to herself as she recalled how bold she was to glare at her Lord Legolas when he refused to let her come near her bow and quiver. So far, not even another elf would dare look up at his eyes. Not unless they were someone of importance.

 

“My Lord.” Tauriel whispered, easily gaining Legolas’ undivided attention as she kept her eye on Neera who was now watching the floors move before her feet.

“Have you any idea who she is?” she asked, “Is she even human?”

Looking at Neera, Tauriel felt here was something different about her.

At first, the captain of the guard mistook her for an elf. Walking through the wood, her all too light footing making it seem she was practically gliding above the forest floor made Tauriel think she was nowhere near human.

But looking at her physical attributes (mainly her rounded ears), she seemed entirely like one-a human that would probably be of nobility (or noble descent) despite her ill clothing.

 Since her traits were quite gentle, her skin as fair as a white rose and her hair as silky and smooth as midnight, it would be easy to mistake her for an elf. Adding to that, she has been walking with the air of someone who had been trained with the grace and elegance like that of a princess.

“I do not know. Perhaps _adar_ would have a clue as to who she is.” Legolas replied, feeling a slight familiarity and also eyeing the young girl quietly following the dwarf before her.

 

* * *

 

Pushed into the tight cells, she turned and froze, feeling her muscles tense as the dark green doors slammed before her face. Losing sight of the wide halls and the sound of gentle waterfalls, Neera quickly felt the intense discomfort creeping up her spine like the giant spiders.

Gritting her teeth, she sighed, pulling her head down to focus on the clamor of the dwarves as each one of them were forced into the same cages while she tried to control her arms that started to shake gentle tremors.

As the ruckus started to die away and the quiet started to pull over her ears, Neera found herself simply standing in the middle of the tight cell, imagining open spaces, the wide halls of Rivendell as she felt her heart tighten and her breath shorten within each passing second.

‘ _It’s been too long since a cage fell over my head_.’

 Focused on keeping her calm demeanor, she hadn’t even realized the blond elf had been calling to her.

“You.” he called, his young and calm voice, making Neera glance up at him from her long lashes.

With those dark brown orbs shining like quiet stars even under a dim light, the young prince kept himself from pulling his head back in slight awe at the sight. Neera simply stared at him, her sight slowly growing bored as he continued to stare at the Peredhil.

Despite feeling quite compelled to just stare into her eyes, the young prince remembered her insolent glare back in the forest.

He narrowed his eyes at her this time which Neera easily countered with a slight glower. Since the other elves were seemingly following his orders, the young girl already thought it wise not to irk him too much despite finding his actions back in the woods quite annoying.

“Who and what are you?” Legolas asked, leaning closer to the bars so that his voice was a mere whisper to Neera’s ears.

Seeing the already dim light before her cell darken from the young elf’s sudden approach, she instantly felt the uncomfortable churning in her stomach as her heart started to thump against her skin, each beat sounding louder as the blood roared in her ears.

At the tense feeling in her muscles, she gritted her teeth, driving dark thoughts away. She refused to start looking weak before her captor.

Feeling annoyed at the fear carefully eating at her and the young elf bothering her, she simply huffed through her nose, and turned her back.

The elf prince frowned, feeling the look of surprise spread across his face as he blinked at the girl who was now seated on the stone bench, staring down at the ground as she crossed her slender arms over herself.

Behind the elf prince, the white haired dwarf-Balin chuckled, seeing that watching the scene unfold before him was worth observing.

‘ _What a strange thing_.’ He thought as he watched Neera stare down at particularly nothing while Legolas simply strode away, looking exasperated by the strange prisoner.

 

Once Legolas had gone, the old dwarf refocused his thoughts to the young girl, contemplating whether or not she was a human or an elf. Probably not an elf, she was treated just as roughly as the dwarves were and the prince didn’t have the patience for her back in the forest or at present either.

“Lass,” he decided to call, his voice gently echoing through the wide, quiet halls. She didn’t look back.

“Lass.” He called once more, louder this time.

She heard the dwarf the first time but simply ignored him, thinking he was addressing one of the female elves passing the dungeons to check on them now and then.

Realizing she was probably the one he was talking to, Neera blinked, slightly turning her head to the voice but refusing to fully turn to the person who called her, just to check if she was in fact the one being addressed.

Seeing the dwarf, she easily recognized him to be the one who told her where the elves were taking them.

With the gentle glint in his old but wise eyes, he gave her a gentle smile.

“You alright there, lass?” he asked quietly. Neera stared at the dwarf and felt her chest slowly go calmer. With a hushed tone, she answered,

“Yes.”

“ **OOH!** ” another dwarf-Bofur exclaimed, his high and sudden voice making Neera jump in her seat before she quickly flushed.

‘ _Being frightened by such a thing. By Valar’s name, how ridiculous_.’ She thought, kicking herself as she tried not to roll her eyes. Watching the young girl’s reaction, Balin quietly chuckled.

“And here I thought you could only shout, lass! Though, I don’t mind you shouting all the time, really!” Bofur shouted, earning small chuckles from the other dwarves who all took note of the gentle ring in her slightly low but still kind voiced ‘Yes’.

“Aye, quite the show you put up there.” Dwalin agreed as he pressed his face against the steel bars. “Haven’t seen a girl get _that_ angry with one of these pointy eared sprites.”

“Aye! And having Bombur sitting on her back probably wasn’t as easy as pie!” another dwarf-Oin laughed, gaining louder laughs from the other dwarves while Bombur quickly shouted his apologies, his tone entirely sheepish and embarrassed.

Neera felt the smile rise on her face as she flushed at the sudden attention and openness she was gaining. She never knew that dwarves could be so merry and bright.

“I can say the same for all of you.” Neera replied, looking up at the old dwarf before her. “May I ask? What were you doing in that forest?” she asked this time, feeling the agitation and frustration brought by the cages slowly waning away as she spoke with these strangers, her usual kind and calm self returning with ease.

“We’d like to ask you the same.” Balin replied in a hum, knitting his snowy brows together as he studied Neera.

“What would a she-elf be doing wandering alone in the dark Mirkwood?” he asked, quickly silencing the other dwarves who were as curious as he was.

Blinking before looking back at the old dwarf, the young Elandili took a breath and told her story.

 

* * *

 

“Rivendell? Isn’t Rivendell the opposite direction?” Fili asked this time, knitting his brows together in slight confusion as he pressed his nose out of the bars.

At the information, Neera blinked at herself, quickly feeling her skin heating up in utter embarrassment. To think she had been going the wrong way this entire time.

‘ _Ah, how embarrassing_.’ She thought to herself as she grinned sheepishly, pulling on her long hair and pinching and rolling the thick strand between her fingers.

Seeing the clearly agitated action, Balin chuckled at her, making some kind of patting action with his hand-an attempt to calm her down.

“Well, if you’re only lost,” Balin started, “I’m quite sure the king would help you find your way.” He smiled assuringly.

At the thought of the Elvenking, Neera felt her heart stiffen once again.

She’s never met the King personally nor has anyone spoken too much of him. But with the few words she’s heard floating about the town, the young girl had realized that she was actually quite afraid of the Elvenking.

 In the back of her head, a voice would keep saying that he probably wasn’t a frightening and intimidating man that would throw one into the dungeons the very moment you utter an accidental insult. That voice simply kept refusing the thought of the King frightening Neera to the core of her bones.

Being the daughter of a great warrior, it was a given that bravery had run through her veins ever since she had grown in her mother’s womb. And having a mother who was bolder than a lion, brashness was also bred into her, resulting in her not easily giving into just any intimidating foe.

 

As Balin studied the young girl’s sudden quietness, he was about to tell her there was nothing to worry about when she quickly smiled, giving Balin a moment to take in the sudden brightness on her face-a brightness like that of an innocent child’s.

She chuckled at him, “Hopefully, he would be so kind.”

After her stories, they all started introducing themselves just for niceties’ sake before questioning her of her life, wondering greatly about whether she was human or elf.

“You look a lot like them, but something still seems off.” Kili said, nonchalantly tossing the rune stone in his hand.

“I am an Elandili.” Neera said as she distracted herself with the hem of her tunic, “Though I chose the mortal life. For life is much more precious when you know a dark end would soon come.”

With her words, everyone else agreed, their loud “Aye”’s echoing throughout the dungeons.

“What about a partner, then?” Fili asked this time, a hint of teasing in his voice as he grinned to himself, waiting for Neera’s answer to see if she was also one of those humans that could be as love struck as a young fawn. Though she was of elvish descent, he thought her quite different from them, except for her looks that is.

Thinking, the young girl pursed her lips, chewing on the fuller bottom lip as she thought of her usual answer.

Love had come into her thoughts before. But she never liked the idea of being stuck to one Man for her entire life. The world is too wide and full of mystery. To keep herself strained to a house and children is merely too much to endure.

 

Neera was about to give an answer to the young dwarf’s question but right when she opened her mouth to speak, one of the guards returned. And with him, the black haired dwarf trudging along before he was rudely pushed into the cell next to Balin.

At his arrival, Balin’s eyes quickly changed from kind and playful to serious and tense.

“Did he offer you a deal?” he asked, pressing his face against the bars and listening intently for an answer from the presently annoyed and angered dwarf who was pacing in his cell.

“He did.” The black haired dwarf replied before he stopped pacing and glared at the bars, looking ready to punch them down.

“I told him he could _ishkh khakfe andu null.”_ the dwarf prince replied, practically spitting out his words as he pulled his head up.

“ **HIM AND ALL HIS KIN!!!”** he shouted as well, his gravelly voice echoing throughout the dungeons and halls and bouncing off the walls like a resounding bell.

Shutting his eyes in exasperation, the old dwarf seemed to be gaining years by the second. “Well, that’s that.” He said, his voice filled with sarcastic defeat. “A deal was our only way out.”

 

As Balin sighed, the dwarf prince looked up, sensing that someone was staring at him. That someone being Neera who was quite impressed with his boldness all the while being worried for the dwarf.

Though it is good to be bold, being too bold does have its penalties. Especially against an ill-tempered king.

The two of them locked eyes, before Neera felt that familiar tingle up her spine-something she usually feels when she’s ready to fight in a little duel.

At first, Thorin waded through the puzzle in his head that the girl was a part of the guard, disguised as a traveler lost on the road, but once the elf prince pointed an arrow at her, he once again questioned who she was.

 

He was about to ask that very thing when another guard suddenly appeared, marching towards Neera’s cell and pulling the portal open.

The guard then stepped aside, making way for the blonde elf prince who was still slightly irked by Neera’s presence. Towering over the open door with his silver eyes glimmering even under the shadow, he stared at Neera, inwardly hoping that his questions would soon be answered.

“The king will speak with you now.”


	3. First Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *  
> Mellonamin-My Friend

**_ CHAPTER 3: _ **

The chamber was wide, guarded and flanked by the guards wearing silver armor. From up the platform, one could oversee everything that was happening throughout the fortress. If a mouse were to ever appear, steely, ice-like eyes would catch the movement like a great eagle.

 Around them, Neera could hear and feel the breeze coming from the waterfalls gently crashing into the deeper parts of the cavern.

Despite the wide space and calm sounds, Neera couldn’t seem to keep her breathing steady.

 For she now stood before the most powerful elf in the Elven kingdom.

In her head, Neera could only hear a blurred sound like that of the waterfalls cascading around her as she kept her head down, her entire self feeling a cold and stiff feeling wash over her shoulders as icy blue eyes stared down at her from above.

 

* * *

 

Sitting quietly in his throne, she only caught a glimpse of his looks. But even with such a small glance, she felt her breath shorten at the beauty he held to himself.

 For now, she decided it was best to keep her eyes set on the floor-the way how she normally holds herself since merely looking at him was like looking directly at the brightest moon and made her think she would probably gasp too loudly.

On his throne, Thranduil-the Elvenking watched the young girl, studying her.

Despite her unflattering travel clothing, there was an air about the young girl which easily drew the king’s attention.

Before she could even set foot before him, the king already knew of her descent.

She may look and have the mortality of a human, but he could still see the radiance glowing from her. The grace of her soft, gentle features and the carefulness in her stride seemed every bit as regal as a noble’s.

 He lightly knit his thick brows together, wondering.

‘ _An Elandili helping thirteen dwarves_?’

With the thought of her giving aid and befriending those dwarves, he felt a sudden touch of annoyance spark deeply in his chest.

“It isn’t a usual sight...for an Elandili to be in the company of dwarves.” He said, his low and husky voice echoing through the chambers.

The sound pierced right through the girl, making her breath stop as she tried to control the sudden stiffness in her muscles while she listened to the king’s voice boom through the halls.

Neera definitely wanted to clear up the questions in the king’s mind, to save herself from all this trouble and finally set course for Rivendell, but her body just wouldn’t listen to her mind.

All she could do was wonder what his eyes looked like.

As a silence rang between them, she felt the embarrassment flood in her cheeks, noticing how rigid she must’ve seemed and revealing how nervous she was.

The king noticed this of course-how the young girl suddenly seemed to lightly shudder before his presence. Despite the relaxed look on her face, she still couldn’t hide the obvious discomfort tense in her delicate shoulders.

The voice in the back of his mind wanted to offer her comfort, to tell her he wasn’t going to hurt her.

But with the fact that she was caught with the company of Thorin Oakenshield-the insolent dwarf who openly insulted him and spoke of the fiery heat of a dragon’s fire, he couldn’t help but feel the side of his cheek hauntingly burn once again.

A sudden anger flared in the king’s heart, dimming the light in his icy blue eyes as he carefully stood from his throne, heading towards the stairs to get closer to the young girl.

 

Seeing that he had risen from his throne, a sudden alertness made Neera pull her head up, giving her a chance to finally gaze at the king.

Donning his silver, silk robes and crown adorned with berries and red leaves, Neera couldn’t help but stare as the king stared back, both of them frozen at each other’s sight.

She wanted to stop looking at him, to stop being rude and try to be more sophisticated like the elves in Lord Elrond’s house.

But her eyes were glued to his own blue ones-so startlingly brighter and more lustrous than any star that she felt her heart stop.

When he looked up at her from his long and thick lashes, Neera couldn’t help but feel herself strain to let go of a gasp while a peculiar flurry of tremors shook in her chest.

It was uncomfortable and strange but…warm and sweet.

 

With the young girl’s gaze, the Elvenking froze at the bottom of the steps, feeling a sudden throb in his chest as her eyes pierced through him, watching his movements with an alertness that seemed to wane under some kind of shock and awe.

As the Elvenking stared into her eyes, Neera had to stop her hands from shaking before she finally grasped the strength to cut their gaze, turning her head away and keeping her attention to the waterfall, trying to calm her nerves.

The Elvenking blinked, taken aback for a second before he felt a warmth suddenly wash over him as he carefully approached the girl, quickly forgetting the annoyance he had felt just a few moments ago.

Merely looking at her small form seemed to shake the king from his usual quiet calm.

Towering over her, the black haired Elandili suddenly the familiar tightness in her chest.

She couldn’t breathe. She needed the wide spaces she once had before these chains brought her to such an intimidating man.

How could he intimidate her so, she thought, watching his smooth, silver blonde hair carefully slip down his broad shoulders as he pulled his chin down to look at her with slightly confused eyes.

‘ _Why are you so nervous_?’ her conscience quipped while her chest burned at his otherworldly scent. Never has she ever smelled someone so good and it slightly frightened her all the while making her feel weak.

A familiar question rang once again, this time through a quiet and dazed murmur.

“Who are you?” Thranduil asked, resisting the urge to pull the Elandili’s chin up just so he could once again see those brown eyes that slightly eased his mind yet held so much mystery.

 

 “My Lord, Thranduil!” Another deep voice echoed, the warm tone instantly making Neera’s shoulders relax as she took a deep breath that freed her from the quiet but heart stopping spell she was caged within just a few moments ago.

 Blinking, she turned to the voice that never failed to make her feel safe.

The black haired elf had come, wearing his smooth, blood red armor, his elvish sword clanging quietly on his hip, distracting him from his thoughts of why Neera would be in the presence of someone such as the High king.

The Lord Elrond however, was quite shocked and infinitely worried upon hearing word that his little human friend had been taken prisoner by the Elvenking.

She may be a little bit of a whirlwind at times, but she would never get into so much trouble that she’d find herself in chains.

In the middle of a hunt for Orcs, he quickly finished the job simply in order to be by his friend’s side, knowing that she was surely as frightened and as confused as a new born kitten.

 

As Elrond’s silver eyes landed on a small, familiar head of midnight hair-tangled with small leaves and dirt, he felt relief wash over him like a cold, ocean wave.

The last time he’s felt so exhausted was when his own daughter had gotten lost in the woods and it took an entire day to finally find her.

“Neera!” he called, moving towards Neera who fully turned to him, her eyes wide with relief as a wide and bright smile spread on her face.

“ _Mellonamin_!” the Elandili gasped with evident happiness, her voice-like that of warm honey making the tall, silver haired elf’s eyes soften as he watched the two exchange joyous embraces like they haven’t seen each other for years.

 

“You know each other?” The Elvenking asked, pulling his gaze towards his old friend and freeing himself from the strange girl’s presence.

“She is a close friend of mine, Lord Thranduil.” Lord Elrond replied with a kind smile towards Neera who easily returned it with a childish grin, showing how grateful she obviously was of the Lord’s sudden presence.

Seeing this, the king wondered why he suddenly felt a hint of irritation tug at him when the black haired elf placed a gentle hand on the space between the back of her shoulders.

“Then would you care to make sure she does not stray from you next time?” he requested, eyeing the young girl who now seemed to be more composed, a sudden burst of confidence evident in her now brighter, chocolate-colored eyes that now boldly looked up at him. Strangely, looking quite irked.

Despite Neera already feeling the quick temper boiling dangerously under her skin, the king continued.

“Simply moving around the dark forest unaccompanied will surely capture the attention of those foul spiders and trouble my people… _Watch yourself_.” He said, staring directly at the young Elandili who simply pulled her gaze away from the king, her jaw feeling stiff, for the need to growl at the Elvenking was getting too hard to endure.

‘ _Telling me what to do, are you_?’ she thought to herself, trying to control the seething anger threatening to burst in her through a hard glare.

Though it was quite insolent for someone to dishonor their kin in the way the young girl was planning to, Neera was feeling too annoyed to think about such things.

Thanks to her friend’s appearance, she was finally woken from the strange spell the Elvenking seemed to put her in when they were alone.

With her mind cleared, the thought of the king being intimidating was easily swept out of her head and was replaced with how much she wanted to storm out of these chambers.

Back in her old home, people kept their distance from the young girl, fully aware of how moody she is but entirely clueless as to what would make her bright, kindness instantly turn sour and distant.

Two things easily made her mood change. And both had been done unknowingly by the king.

To think that he practically ordered Lord Elrond to keep her steps limited by not letting her out of his sight like she was still a little child! The last time someone said such words, she wasn’t able to catch a glimpse of the stars for 7 long and painful days.

And right after, telling her to ‘Watch herself’…As if she was such a calamity on this earth.

‘ _How irksome_.’ Neera thought with an inward scoff, until now, not knowing that her brash attitude could lead her to very troublesome events (and also not knowing that the king wasn’t  _entirely_  telling her what to do.)

 

Next to her, the black haired elf could already feel his shoulders tensing with Neera’s change of mood.

At the moment, he had to show the king that he, in fact would watch the young human and keep her out of trouble, but he knew all too well how much Neera valued her freedom.

 If he agreed to the king, she’d probably be so angry she’d march right out of the chambers and infuriate the king with her attitude.

Most people who would first meet her would think she was simply spoiled. But for 2 years she had survived without a father or mother and was never spoiled as a child nor did her mother have the energy to spoil her too much. She was merely just too much of a free spirit.

‘ _A free spirit that could easily grow into a storm when captured_.’ He thought as he glanced at Neera from the corner of his silver eye, watching her eyes darken as she stubbornly kept her head turned away from the Elvenking.

‘ _She never did learn how to control her emotions_.’

With a quiet intake of breath, Lord Elrond looked up at the Elvenking, looking to end this conversation as soon as possible. Other than the fact that he had more duties waiting back in Rivendell, he was afraid that Neera’s temper would finally burst like a volcano's fire.

With a small nod and bow, Lord Elrond started to lead Neera away and towards the gate. As he did, the young girl couldn't help but feel the relief wash over her.

How much she wanted to escape the king's gaze!

It did something to her, those ice blue eyes that were as dazzling as the brightest diamonds simply made her senses go into a wild, confusing flurry. And it scared her.

Right then, two speared clanged against each other, the steel weapons crossing before the elf Lord and the Elandili.

 

* * *

 

Neera jumped, entirely shocked by the sudden motion while Lord Elrond froze in his steps, feeling icy tingles at the back of his neck.

 Both of them glanced back at the Elvenking whose tall figure stood mere inches before the young girl who simply stared up at him, catching her breath when her eyes fell upon the two ice blue orbs, glimmering with an intense dominance that simply made the Elandili feel so small.

 

“She will stay here.” he suddenly announced, his warm breath kissing Neera’s face and momentarily making her mind go blank.

A second later, her mind finally understood what he had said.

Neera’s jaw instantly fell, almost falling to the floor as her eyes widened with absolute shock and complete fury.

Lord Elrond on the other hand simply stared, bewildered at the king’s sudden change of mind before he glanced at Neera, worried to see that she was now under the spell of her anger.

“ _What?”_  she asked, her voice louder and  _definitely_  angry.

The Woodland Realm was indeed far and wide, but hiding under ground was never a beautiful thought for Neera. For three days, she’s been longing to see the heavenly lights finally glow above her head.

The fact that the king wanted to keep her in his underground realm was  _not_  helping her nerves.

“There is more I wish to ask from you.” the Elvenking said with a low and quiet tone, not breaking his gaze from hers and taking in how her eyes glimmered under the dim light.

Something snapped in the young girl and she just couldn’t help her own words, for her patience was wearing extremely thin at every sound of a bird's chirp.

“ _There is nothing more I wish to say to you_.” Neera replied through her teeth.

 

“ **NEERA!”**  Lord Elrond’s voice echoed through the halls, making the young half-elf freeze, her stomach clenching as if she were bracing for a hit.

 

She stiffly turned, seeing her old friend’s silvery eyes stiffen with absolute strictness. Looking at them, he suddenly seemed so distant.

For the first time, Lord Elrond had gotten truly angry at her.

And staring at him, Neera could still hear the sudden fury in his voice echoing in her head. With a blink of her eyes, she pulled her chin down, not wanting to look gloomy despite her feeling a weight on her shoulder.

The elf lord knew this would break her heart, yet he followed his mind. The Elvenking was not one to easily forgive such words and actions. Though she thinks she could get away with it, it would be wise to simply follow his orders. And this young half-human had to understand this.

“Stay and do as Lord Thranduil says.” He said. It wasn’t like his usual words that sounded like kind requests. This time it was an order. And Neera had no choice but to follow it.

Gritting her teeth, she simply gave a small, hard nod. So far, lord Elrond was the only one who could make her calm and reclaim her ability to think through those damned feelings.

 

* * *

 

With that, Lord Elrond took his leave, his armor clinking loudly and echoing throughout the halls while the young girl simply stared at his retreating form.

Behind her, she could still feel the Elvenking’s icy stare on her back, the gaze filled with questions and frustration as to who she was and how she could be so bold as to practically hiss back at him-the great Elvenking.

In the back of her head, all Neera could think about was how to find a way out of these caverns.


	4. A Little Jog Through the Woodland Realm

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> * Heru en amin-My Lord (non familiar)  
> Tampa-Stop

 

 ** _CHAPTER 4_** :

 

Pulling her gaze up, the Elandili tried to look for any sort of exit. If the only way out of these caverns were the wide cavities streaming a natural and beautiful light far, far above her head, then so be it. She’d climb these walls if it resulted in her finally being free of the king’s caging gaze.

Now that she had her back towards the king, the young girl could finally think-if only for a bit. Her mind was still hazy. Especially with the silver haired elf standing just two feet from her.

What on earth did he do to her? she kept thinking, still replaying the strange and confusing moment they had together before Lord Elrond saved her from the king’s intense presence.

Before Lord Elrond appeared, it seemed something sparked warmly in Neera. Somewhere deep inside her, something kept churning, longing to touch the line of his prominent jaw as gently as she could while the beautiful glow in his eyes consumed her.

 

Her eyes slammed shut, her mind screaming as she felt the blood suddenly flood into her cheeks, the small, fragile thing in her chest twisting and squeezing itself as a quick and warm tingle trickled down her spine.

She’s never felt her heart and mind go into such a frenzy before and it confused her so much!

‘ _Was it Elvish magic_?’ she thought to herself, remembering her mother’s tales of how elves and the other creatures of Middle Earth were capable of casting such wonderful things that made their minds go blank and fuzzy.

Knitting her brows together at the thought of a king pulling such a cheap trick, she pulled her eyes to the corner, wanting to glance at the beautiful elf who was still silently staring at her with absolute befuddlement as to what she was currently doing.

Remembering those storm-like eyes, she stopped herself, trying to keep her composure. She would not be able to think. Not with him hanging around her like a hawk.

‘ _It’s time to act._ ’ She thought, pooling her courage and feeling every muscle under her skin tense at what she was about to do.

Straightening her back, she turned to the king, her expression calm and relaxed as she pulled her brown eyes to meet the king’s blue ones.

Finally looking back at him and successfully catching her gasped breath when his gentle features lit up before her eyes, her mind practically exploded with questions and thoughts of how beautiful a creature like him could be. But in the back of her head, the rational voice scolded her, telling her to focus on the plan.

Thranduil stared at her, steeling himself from the sudden breathlessness her wide eyes brought upon him.

Once his own eyes found hers, something kept tugging at his conscience. Something that was enough to drive him mad and make him lose his usual aloofness.

 He must know who she is and how she could have such an effect on him.

 

The king was about to open his mouth but before he could even feel his voice leave his throat, the young Elandili did something even the Elvenking would never expect.

 

She turned and ran.

 

His blue eyes widening in shock, he simply found himself voiceless as he watched the young girl sprint towards the edge of the platform, her speed easily comparable to a deer’s.

Before his guards could even fully react, she was already falling through the air, her midnight hair fluttering against the wind as she kept a steely focus, aiming to fall on one of the paths lying just 50 feet below the king’s throne room.

“ **WAIT!** ” the king yelled in his own language, his loud and deep voice humming through the air. Right after, he yelled another command.

She didn’t know fully the language of the elves, but hearing the voice booming through the halls and the clang of armor that followed, the half-elf already had an idea of what the Elvenking had shouted.

Instantly, she felt her heart quicken. The guards would probably be on her tail soon.

Finally reaching the ground, the heavy pressure stung and stabbed at her ankles as she winced, tumbling over herself and landing on her back with a groan, her legs aching and practically crumbling into sand.

‘ _Why did you run, fool_?!’ a voice in her head yelled in frustration as her eyes caught sight of other elves starting to surround her and murmured amongst each other, shocked by the Elandili’s grand (and clumsy) entrance.

Hearing the clinking and ringing of armor steel, the young girl quickly got off her back, pushing herself off the ground and sprinting off, weaving through small crowds of elves as she heard the guards angry yells telling her to stop.

 

* * *

 

Lord Elrond slowed his horse, staring at the rocks and grass under the animal’s feet.

“ _Heru en amin_?” one of the elves next to him asked, puzzled by the lord’s sudden look of worry.

“Is it Neera?” he asked, almost reading his leader’s mind. In his own mind, it was clear that when an expression of worry runs over Lord Elrond’s face, it’s most likely that the Elandili is the reason for such anxiety. Never had there been such a trouble like her in Rivendell.

Elrond sighed, pulling on his horse’s reigns and returning to their usual pace.

“I fear she’s stirring trouble…” he said, his voice so low, only the birds and spirits could hear the deep tone of worry.

 

* * *

 

The Lord was greatly correct, of course.

As the young girl ran through the passages, heading who knows where and almost colliding against innocent bystanders before quickly apologizing, she repressed an exasperated groan.

Why did she have to run from the Elvenking?

She already knew that if she just listens and follows obediently, she wouldn’t be in as much trouble as she would be in if the guards ever ended up catching her. Adding to that, she was clueless as to where she was bringing herself to.

For all she knows, she could be running straight back to the Elvenking (who is most probably quite infuriated at the moment.)

At first, she thought of just forgetting about her obnoxious plan and instead she’d just listen to the king’s questions, but still, her heart ached for an untamed and strong breeze from the open wild.

Freedom. She couldn’t resist the beckoning calls for it.

‘ _Well, I_ do _feel a breeze…_ ’ she thought sarcastically to herself, the wind weaving through her hair while she ran from annoyed guards.

 

As she was about to turn a corner, her sprint was instantly stopped by an arrow pointed right between her eyes. Holding her breath, she froze, staring up at the prince of Mirkwood as he narrowed his eyes at her.

“You will not leave.” he said, pulling his arrow further back as Neera panted, her legs shaking with fatigue from running so much. Behind her, she could hear the ring and clanking of the royal guard’s armor.

With the sound of the chains chiming in her mind, the young girl gritted her teeth, a slight burst of red anger burning her stomach as she got ready to steal the prince’s weapon from him.

“I will.” She said through gritted teeth.

“ _ **TAMPA**_ ,  **ENOUGH.”**

At the booming sound, Neera instantly froze, the clear tone of authority entwined with a deepness making the girl shiver and momentarily forget what she was doing. Turning, she saw the Elvenking moving towards her, his careful and long legged stride as graceful as a forest deer’s.

Even with his guards wearing shining armor next to him, Neera still knew that nothing could compare to the radiance he held. As the king looked up at her, the young girl turned her head away.

She finally understood that looking at him directly would definitely not help her concentration and calmness.

“Lay down your weapon, my son.” The king said, keeping his eyes on the Elandili that refused to look at him. Hearing his voice, the young girl felt her defenses slowly dissolve for what she heard sounded like warm, silky honey-more gentle and quiet than the voice he had before.

“Father-“

“I wish to speak with her alone.” The Elvenking said, gauging her reaction with his icy stare but careful not to reveal his anticipation of the thought that his little theory might be true-a theory that he carefully thought of while the guards fumbled around his halls trying to catch the little troublemaker.

‘ _This one just needs a more careful touch_.’

With the elvenking’s words, Legolas simply stared up at his father then to the young Elandili whose eyes seemed more relaxed than when he pointed his weapon at her.

After a while of contemplation, the elf prince nodded, following his father’s orders and heading away to leave the two in their privacy despite the questions swimming in his own mind.

 

Slightly confused and a little relieved at one of the threat’s disappearance, Neera glanced around, still remembering to keep her guard up despite catching a glance of the king’s expression-a sudden calm and hidden gentleness that easily tempted the young girl to fully look into his eyes once again and let herself get caught up in a breathtaking whirlwind.

Once his son had gone, Thranduil ordered his guards to leave as well. A few seconds later, they were alone, the sound of a pond rippling from somewhere being the only audible noise.

Glancing around to see that she was once again left in the presence of the king, Neera felt her shoulders relax. Carefully, she pulled her eyes up to look at the tall creature before her.

Once those blue orbs caught hers, glimmering and softening at her gaze, Neera’s own eyes grew calm and quiet as she looked the king up and down, instinctively looking for chains or weapons that could ensnare her.

“Come with me.” the Elvenking said before turning away from her and heading towards a place he knew she would be inclined to let her guard down.

The young girl on the other hand still couldn’t help but doubt his sudden gentleness. How a serene kindness suddenly bloomed from him.

 Staring at the back of his head, his silver blonde hair shuffling smoothly as he walked, the young girl simply conjured up thoughts of what he was planning to do.

Not that she assumed elves were cunning creatures that would hurt hand trick her like humans or other creatures would, but since she was practically taken prisoner, it was a given for such thoughts to burst into her mind for Neera had always been the cautious type. No matter who it would be, she was always careful to make sure they wouldn’t hurt or trick her so easily.

Realizing the young girl was just standing frozen like a statue behind him, he carefully turned his head, the way he held his chin commanding respect and obedience when he asks of it.

Seeing the way her small, oval face gentled like her warm brown eyes, the Elvenking realized that what he had thought was true.

Many has he met that were quite intimidated by his presence and therefore put up strong barriers between he and them, sometimes even going as far as forcing him to stay away through destructive means.

Obviously, this half-elf could still be reasoned with. As long as he makes sure there are no chains or cages in sight, her fear would quickly disintegrate like old ruins.

‘ _Such a mad and wild stallion could only be calmed by a gentle hand_.’ He thought to himself, a miniscule smirk twitching on his face.

 

Now that she seemed to be within reason, the Elvenking patiently waited for her to put her trust in him, watching her shoulders relax despite the doubtful stare she set into his eyes.

“Please, follow me.” he quietly requested, resisting the urge to just grab her hand and squeeze it in his own.

He blinked at his own thoughts, puzzled by what strange feelings this girl had suddenly stirred in him. And because of these feelings, it peaked the king’s already high curiosity.

After what seemed like a long minute of staring at the Elvenking, the young Elandili finally gave in. Not because she wanted to give up, but with the king’s quiet voice echoing around her, the cautious spirit in her said that she should just listen and quietly follow for he didn’t have any ill intentions towards her.

Other than that, the way he held himself at the moment-towering over her own small body with blue eyes shining under the dim light simply made her feel too cowardly to let the animal in her go wild.

Swallowing, she finally gave a small and quiet nod, gaining a slightly wider smile from the king as he finally led her to his private chambers.


	5. Caught in the Current

**_ CHAPTER 5: _ **

The young girl quietly stood at the foot of the stone stairs, watching as the Elvenking carefully poured wine into two crystal chalices-the thick, red liquid smoothly coursing out of the beautiful crystal ewer and into the glasses.

The drink, of course was quite a sight to behold since she was incredibly parched, but it was not enough to stop Neera from keeping her eyes on the king.

After momentarily leaving her alone in the chamber he usually spent time in simply to drink wine and watch his people move through the halls, the Elvenking returned, his crown gone as he now donned a heavy, silver silk robe, the cloth perfectly making him look more kingly and bright.

And staring at his incredibly long and thick lashes, Neera just couldn’t focus.

With the warm feeling quickly rising from her chest, the young girl decided to study her surroundings, just to keep herself occupied.

After descending numerous flights of stairs, she and the king finally arrived here-a small chamber hidden from the probing eyes of the other, normal elves walking about and doing their duties.

There wasn’t anything special about the chamber. Other than the table occupied by the king’s wine and a sitting chair placed before it, there was a small pool filled with clear, blue water that simply made Neera stay closer to the stairs for she had quite a distaste for water.

 

* * *

 

While the young girl was busy looking around, the Elvenking patiently watched, observing the way her eyes searched and probed for anything interesting. A small smile pulled up on the king’s face.

‘ _Curious little thing_.’ He thought as he took the other glass of wine, walking towards her and handing her the chalice.

Carefully taking the cup from his large hands, Neera gave a small nod of thanks. (Despite being secretly and absolutely grateful that he finally handed her a drink.)

Immediately, she pulled the rim towards her lips and felt the warm liquid fall smoothly unto her tongue, coating it with a sweetness that she just couldn’t have enough of.

At the back of her head, she called herself a fool. Immediately taking a drink from her captor? What if there was a sleep inducing potion in there? Before she’d know it, she would be locked in the dungeons for who knows how long for all the ruckus she had caused.

But she couldn’t stop drinking.

Despite it being the first time she had a taste of wine, the young girl deeply delighted in the sweet and fruity taste smoothly running down her throat.

A warm, gentle hand was suddenly atop her hand clutching the chalice. Glancing up, she saw the king staring at her, his sapphire eyes wide with slight shock and amusement.

“Drink too much and you will find yourself dreaming.” He said, clearly amused by the young Elandili’s actions.

Staring at the king, her brown eyes narrowed at him for she finally understood what he was trying to do.

‘ _How obvious. How did I not notice?_ ’ she thought to herself as she suppressed a grin.

The young girl could remember a similar scene. But it was between her and Lord Elrond. Though, their first encounter began with her angrily fighting the guards that tried to bring her to Lord Elrond.

Not wanting to give in, she fought them off, intent on getting away and just finding a new town to steal food from. All was going well and she was about to get away.

That is, until she finally fainted.

Exhausted from travelling, fighting all sorts of characters and not eating for days, she finally succumbed to a deep, tired sleep, finally allowing the (very surprised and slightly confused) Lord Elrond to take her to the infirmary.

The young girl had always thought that it would take more than food to gain her trust. But of course, she was entirely wrong.

And since the Elvenking was kind enough to keep the guards away from her, the young girl had finally given up. Deciding that she should give the king what he wants and stop troubling him with her dwarf-like stubbornness.

 

Pulling down the chalice and placing it on the table next to her, Neera easily regained her confidence and composure. The king’s eyes were definitely a huge distraction, but she held her ground, wanting to finish the conversation and finally be free of the king.

“Your questions, my king?” she asked, smiling charmingly at him with eyes glittering with a mischievousness that simply made a ghost of a grin spread on the Elvenking’s flawless face.

“Forgive me.” he apologized, turning away from the young girl and creating more distance between them.

“I do hope you tell me,” he started, glancing at the brown eyes staring probingly at him. “Why were you in Mirkwood with Thorin Oakenshield and his company?” the king finally asked.

She wondered at first-why is the king so intent on knowing why she was with the dwarves? Though she had spent time with educated elves back in Rivendell, she never so much bat an eyelash to ask about the history between dwarves and elves for she never had the interest. 

Of course, being in the most peaceful place she’s ever been to, the young girl was keen on simply falling asleep next to the nearest waterfall, listening to the gushing of water as dreams pulled her into a heavy sleep.

With a small sigh, Neera finally told her reason along with her plans of heading to Rivendell.

Once she had finished, the king simply blinked at her.

“You were…lost?” he asked, the tone of utter bewilderment obvious in his voice. The young girl had to suppress the urge to roll her eyes.

The king was not expecting this.

For such a wild and mad thing such as her, he assumed she would be in league with the dwarves simply for the fun of it. But he never thought she-this whirlwind of trouble, would be fighting off spiders in Mirkwood for such a silly reason.

He couldn’t help himself, but he found himself chuckling.

 

Hearing the sound of his laugh, the young girl couldn’t help but stare at him with slightly shocked and wide eyes. Though she wanted to get mad, the sound of his laugh was too much to let pass. She listened to the deep, throaty chuckle echoing through the chamber-a charming and musical sound in the young Elandili’s ears who was simply too entranced by the slow shudder running up her spine.

Blinking and waking herself from his spell, she quickly recomposed herself, feeling the embarrassed redness flooding her cheeks.

“Finding an honest reason amusing, dear king?” she asked, raising a brow at the Elvenking as he glanced back at her, a small smile still present on his handsome face.

 

After a short while, the king finally stopped himself and turned back to the young girl who was still looking much like an angry puppy-her cheeks flushed tomato red. Seeing her reaction, Thranduil was keen on seeing more, finding that when the girl wasn’t tense and troubled, she was quite amusing to be with. Especially with the cocky and bold attitude she possessed.

“If you are looking for a place to stay,” The Elvenking started as he refilled his cup with wine, “you must stay here.”

 

For a moment, the young girl couldn’t seem to comprehend what the king had just said.

 A moment ago he was laughing at her for being lost in the forest. Now he was offering her shelter? Neera knew about her strange mood changes. It seems the Elvenking has them as well.

A moment later, the young Elandili scoffed, unable to keep it in her throat as she cracked a smile. 

Rethinking all the chaos she had brought into the Woodland Realm, the young girl thought it was quite obvious that she didn’t like being in the king’s dominion. Though, the thought of being close to him was very appealing and gave the young girl a warm, fluffy feeling in her chest, she repressed these thoughts. listening to her most dominant voice.

‘ _I do not like hiding from the light_.’ A dark memory suddenly flashed into her mind, instantly fueling her need to escape her own thoughts.

“Forgive me, but…no.” Neera simply replied with a control harder than a dragon’s hide.

The king didn’t even seem to hear her.

“With Lord Elrond too occupied with his duties, you-alone in the wood comes as something…rather ominous to me.” he said, raising a brow at the young girl who simply raised her brow as well, this time with disbelief of his words.

With the king’s blunt and rather toneless words, the young girl found herself slightly annoyed, her present thought of leaving the chambers whisked away like a cloud.

Without haste, the young girl strode towards the Elvenking, her surprisingly long strides easily taking her so close to the silver haired elf that she merely needed to lift a hand in order to touch his smooth cheek.

 

Surprised by her sudden closeness, the king froze in place, watching intently as her eyes glimmered with a competitiveness that let the king knew how easily swayed she is by words.

“You think I need a caregiver to protect me?” she asked, a polite (but annoyed) smile flashing on her face. The Elvenking stared down at her, his lids falling lower and more entranced by her strong glare.

 

Even though he knew the young Elandili was trying to intimidate him or at least squeeze out an answer bad enough from him to get her extremely angry, the gentle but convulsive beating of his heart was too strange and intimate to ignore.

Staring at bright eyes glistening with unshakable courage, the Elvenking could only feel his chest go warm-his chest that was once so cold and unyielding easily made him so yearning to touch her hand and feel the smoothness of her skin. All this simply because she glared up at him.

‘ _So familiar_.’ He thought as he watched her eyes twinkle like melted chocolate under the dim light.

It was all utterly difficult for the Elvenking. With her scent sweeping into his senses, the urge to embrace her and bury his face into her thick black hair and sniff her scent was getting too hard to bear.

But like her, the king was also quite stubborn. He wasn’t about to lose to a human.

 

“I think it wiser to keep you close.” He said, his deep voice low and hushed as he stared deeper into the young girl’s eyes, not realizing that _she_ was already in the process of not being able to breathe because of the all too close proximity between them.

Now that she was closer to the king himself, the young girl cursed herself. How easy it was to get her angry and thoughtless before she charges into the fight head on like a reckless, wild boar.

 ‘ _This is too unfair_.’ She thought to herself, her heart practically stopping as she stared into the elf king’s eyes, realizing that they were clearer than the infinite sky she loved to her very core.

 

* * *

 

Stalking down a random passage, the young girl stopped in her tracks, staring at the floor underneath her boots.

Right then, blue, piercing eyes flashed in her mind, causing her breath to stop as her heart twisted itself like a wet dishcloth being churned of water.

She whimpered so quietly, the passing elves couldn’t hear her unimaginable frustration.

Though the young Elandili had thought about love, she only knew of the word. The meaning and how it feels not once came into her mind and life for she was simply too adventurous for thoughts of love to go swimming into her mind.

 

At the moment, she was trying to distance herself from the king. Though it wasn’t enough for her to just merely walk around the Woodland Realm, she had no choice.

After the king saying it was best to keep an eye on her, the young girl simply gave up, already knowing that her face was redder than a cherry. Turning on her heel, she left the Elvenking in his chambers, dumbfounded with her sudden exit but still, satisfied he won the stare down.

 

Recalling the moment of weakness, she growled at herself, feeling annoyed.

 Other than she was clueless as to where the exit was, she could feel the eyes of the royal guards practically piercing though her skin like Orc blades.

It was making her feel exposed and very exhausted.

Feeling her throat going dry once again, the child in her chimed, telling her to go back and at least ask where the wine was. Of course it was a foolish idea, especially for someone so stubborn as her. Other than that, how insolent! To ask straightforwardly where the wine was in someone else’s home, she rather didn’t fancy being labeled as a drunkard.

After getting lost for a few moments, the familiar fruity and full aroma of wine drifted into her nostrils. Glancing up, her eyes caught sight of barrels stacked upon one another. Most probably encasing the wine she was hunting for.

She wasn’t trying to, but somehow the king’s face flashed in her head-the flawless face that smirked at her like a devil that was simply keen on torturing her with sweet teases.

“Oh, by Valar’s name.” she groaned into her palm as she glared at the wooden floor, feeling her face heat up once again.

 

“ **FIND THEM!”** someone yelled behind Neera, the angry and loud clinking of armor instantly making her tense up as she fully turned to the voices, instinctively moving backwards, mistaking that the shouts were meant for her.

Once she turned back though, she froze, seeing another strange creature.

Standing before her was a tiny person, his head not even inching close enough above her hip despite her being tiny compared to the Elvenking. He wore dark green, knee length pants and a red coat paired with a cream waistcoat. On his hip, a tiny dagger was tied.

He stared up at her and her at him.

Studying him further, the young girl realized the traces of cobwebs littering his clothes. She knit her brows. He must’ve been there when they were attacked by the great spiders. But why did she not see him back in the forest?

As she was about to come closer to him, the hobbit’s little shoulders tensed and he quickly scooted backwards.

“I won’t-“

The floor opened up beneath him, the wood straining and creaking like an old seal. Little did the young Elandili know that the door opened like a play ground’s see saw and that she was standing right at the opposite end of it.

 Before she knew it, she had lost her footing and fell on her back, gasping along with the poor hobbit who was swept along with her flailing limbs as the duo slid off the wood, falling out of the cellars and plunging into a cold river as the secret door slammed shut over their heads.

Once she fell into the water, her hands immediately toppled unto cold metal. Gasping and wiping the water off her eyes, she froze to see before her a small but very hairy head, the owner’s face covered entirely by the orange mane disheveled and wet from the river water.

The young girl nearly screamed for her heart stopped of absolute fright, but looking up, she saw the familiar head of messy, black hair and stern blue eyes staring up at her with slight confusion and shock. Though he was surprised to see the girl once again, he simply ignored his questions, and turned his mind to the more important task of escaping the Elvenking’s realm.

“Neera!” old Balin’s voice shouted with glee as the other dwarves whipped their heads around before shouting with the same joy at the sight of her.

“Well done, Mister Baggins.” The black haired dwarf smiled as the little Hobbit shook his head while gripping unto the other side of the barrel the Elandili was also hanging unto.

“LET’S GO!” Thorin’s gravelly voice echoed through the river’s growing roars.

“Where are you going?!” Neera yelled through the rapids as the cold water splashed her face.

Now that she had gotten out of the underground passages that grasped her lungs, the young girl was now keen on staying with the company on their way to freedom. Though something in her did sting at the thought of never seeing the Elvenking again, she still held tightly unto the barrel, wishing that the open forest would soon be in sight and she’d be left free to run through them as she wishes.

 

The company leader was about to answer when the sound of a waterfall came crashing into Neera’s ears. Instantly, she held on for her life. She may have been fond of waterfalls but she never liked being _in_ them.

“ **HOLD ON!!!!”** the dwarf prince cried before, one by one, each barrel of dwarves fell over the waterfall and plunged into the crazy river wilder than the Elandili holding unto the barrel for dear life.

The barrel pushed through the water once again, but the young girl wasn’t there anymore.

“ **NEERA!!!”** one dwarf screamed.

She couldn’t breathe.

She gasped for air, flailing like a young, newborn colt as the water tugged at her ankles, pulling her head further down into the water crashing angrily above her.

Gasping, Neera looked ahead and felt her blood freeze at the sight of large boulders standing in the middle of the river like unyielding fortresses, the water slapping hard against them as if trying to push them out of the way.

Not many a thing scared this young Elandili. Not even the ugliest Orc scared her and set her courage off course. But other than the grasp of tight walls and cages, she also feared the water.

She never learned how to swim once in her life and almost falling into Rivendell’s ponds was almost equal to a death hymn for the young girl.

 

Her voice strained to call for help, but the river pushed its way into her mouth and lungs, every time she did so.

Clawing blindly at the water, frightened tears started to line her eyes as she gagged under the cold river’s grasp, her head pulling up now and again and giving her lungs the very much needed air.

Right when she was about to call for help,

_**THUMP!** _

 A second later, she was underwater, the sound of a muffled horn bellowing into her ears through the water now running with her own blood. She had no clue as to what happened, but the back of her head started to throb painfully as if something were squeezing and pulling madly on it.

Her heart beating wildly and her lungs straining for air, one name echoed in her mind as everything around her started to darken.

Did he even know what was happening to her? More than that, she started to think everything was simply a dream as she felt the river tugging at her entire body, the current trying to wash her away.

‘ _Thranduil…_ ’

 

* * *

 

Something warm grasped her wrist in an iron hold. A second later, she was pulled out of the water and freed from its cold embrace.

This time, the cold wind swept through her, making tremors run through her body at the icy feeling stabbing at her skin despite the warm blood trickling down her temple.

“ **NEERA!”** a voice frantically shouted, his tone having a familiar deepness to it as he practically growled her name once again. A second later, a screech of an Orc followed before the sound of an unsheathed sword sliced through skin.

‘ _Him?_ ’ her hazy mind thought as she lay still on the cold ground. For a short moment, the young girl managed to pull her eyes open. It was only a mere glimpse but the Elvenking’s ice blue eyes stared widely into hers.

Feeling the warmth of his breath close to her own lips, she finally succumbed to the exhaustion tugging heavily at her eyes, whispering his name under her breath.


	6. Awakening

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fea- Spirit

**_ CHAPTER 6:  _ **

**__ **

Fingers drummed at the wooden desk.

The royal guard, though having their backs turned from the door, could very much feel their Elvenking’s anxiety.

Just yesterday an Orc pack attempted to infiltrate the Woodland realm, boldly attacking the front gates where Thorin Oakenshield and his company were also coincidentally found trying to escape through the clever means of using barrels as a mode of transportation.

Though it was known that the Orcs were in fact in pursuit of Oakenshield and were not trying to instigate a war between elves and their own vile kin, the Elvenking couldn’t seem to regain his usual patient and calm air.

At the moment, he was already on his feet, pacing his study as he started particularly at nothing, his head hung down low with his brow furrowed in thought.

For the moment, he had told his son to close the gates and make sure they stay closed. But the news of the young elandili still being in a deep slumber was enough to keep the Elvenking pacing through the morning.

The last time he heard about her was when he was told that his son was able to save her from the wild rapids. Despite the fact that the young girl was unfortunate enough to gain a bloody injury to the head, it was better news than if they ever found that her heart had stopped.

Thranduil stopped pacing at the thought.

He shut his eyes, letting a quiet darkness wrap around him as he tried to drive away thoughts of the young girl dead. Gritting his teeth, he exhaled carefully, telling himself to calm down. He has had his fair share of witnessing death. Her being one of those experiences was more than enough to make his heart stop. And since he never had the chance to check on the little troublemaker, the Elvenking had been on his toes ever since he heard news of her little escapade.

He sighed, suddenly feeling tired.

Other than that single Orc Tauriel and Legolas had taken for questioning, speaking of some kind of great weapon that could destroy the peace hard won over Middle Earth, he also had this young girl to worry about.

He knew of course that he did not have to worry. She was never supposed to be his responsibility at all. If anything, he shouldn’t even care about her. She was merely, well, a girl. And a half-human at that.

Hearing his own thoughts, the Elvenking suppressed a smile. If Neera could hear his thoughts she’d probably be scoffing at him by now, a mischievous and haughty glint in her eyes saying that she was right about how she needed no one but herself.

The mere thought of her saying she was capable of living her life on her own simply made the Elvenking roll his eyes like a child, his brows knitting together in annoyance before he started towards the small wooden table holding a crystal ewer filled with his favorite wine.

 He was saving it for a time of relaxation but since the anxiety was eating horribly at him and thoughts of the young girl were swimming in his mind, wine was probably the best thing for the moment since he was simply too deep in his kingdom’s affairs at the moment that he can’t take the time to visit her.

‘ _What a troublesome child_.’ He thought tiredly, eager to down the wine and think about how he’ll ever organize his thoughts about her.

He was about to take the chalice’s rim to his lips when he stopped, the thoughts of the young girl never waking flashing in his mind.

 A second later he was already gliding out his doors and towards the infirmary where the young girl was.

 

* * *

 She breathed in, the scent of medicine and herbs springing into her nose as she tried to open her eyes and move her body. For a moment, she thought Bombur was probably on top of her again for her muscles strained every time she tried to move a mere inch.

 Other than that, her head was throbbing, oh, so painfully as a red hot pain crackled at the back of her head. She winced, her eyes finally opening to the sight of the sun’s rays streaming in from her left. Seeing the orange tint in the quiet room’s walls, it must’ve been late in the afternoon now.

Her head was spinning but she fought the drowsiness and started to think about what had happened to her and where she was. With the smell of herbs and ointments around her, it was obvious that she was in some kind of infirmary.

Next, she recalled falling into the water. At the memory of the coldness washing over her face and rushing down her throat, she swallowed, suddenly feeling uncomfortable as she shut her eyes, driving the memory away.

And then, blue eyes…golden hair…and a voice shouting her name.

‘ _The Elvenking?_ ’ she thought.

Instantly, she shook her head, squeezing down her already closed eyes. Impossible.

A king like him with all those beautiful and heavy troublesome robes couldn’t possibly suddenly appear and save her from the rapids. Other than that, she can vaguely remember the person that saved her had a smaller build and much bluer eyes. A moment later, she finally puzzled everything together. Her expression softened as her brow jerked up in some kind of satisfaction and silent gratefulness.

“Elf prince…” she muttered in a daze, finding that the prince probably wasn’t as irksome as he was at first.

 “Are you awake?”

The warm, deep voice was enough to make the young girl freeze up in her bed again, her entire body suddenly burning in a strange and befuddling way as she refused to open her eyes.

With the way she is right now-her head throbbing (and dabbed with ointments) and her entire body numbed with pain, she couldn’t possibly look up at the Elvenking now. Not with the fact that she fought with all her stubborn pride that she could fend for herself and manage not to get killed.

Though something in her head kept trying to pull her eyes open and see those ice blue orbs and beautiful face, she madly fought the urge. Pretending she was still asleep was probably the best choice at the moment.

Watching her struggling to keep her eyes closed, the Elvenking felt the smile perk up on his face as he watched her eyes moving under their lids.

She obviously wasn’t good when it came to theatricals.

He chuckled quietly, the deep and warm sound instantly making Neera’s skin rise under the blankets. The Elvenking was once again in close proximity and it did not help in stopping her head from throbbing even more because of the blood rushing faster through her veins.

Staring at her face, the king simply fell quiet, a serenity washing over his shoulders and somehow making him forget about all the troubles he’s thought of since this morning. With the slight curve at the edges of her lips, the king tried to control his breath, not wanting to wake her with a gasp.

‘ _Why are you so familiar to me?_ ’ 

 There was no hiding that ever since they looked at each other, the Elvenking sensed something in her. A spirit that was slightly similar to his dear wife. Though she was ultimately different from her in so many ways, he felt so at home with her and was already finding himself used to her stubbornness and recklessness.

Carefully, he brought his hand to her cheek and with the gentleness of a feather, he brushed the back of his palm across her cheekbones, reveling at the light brush between their skin and finding his expression softening as he gazed at her profile.

He couldn’t bear to leave now. Not when his heart was aching to see her brown eyes glitter with life as they did at their first meeting.

At the contact, the young girl felt herself frown before her eyes pulled open, unable to keep themselves closed any longer.

Once she opened her eyes, her breath stopped at the sight of the Elvenking.

 With his face above hers, the light of the setting sun danced across his features, the orange tint highlighting the gleam of his blue eyes and the beautiful paleness of his hair.

The Elvenking’s breath stopped as well when he saw her eyes-bright and alert as usual. taking a small breath, the edges of his lips curved wonderfully which greatly helped in making the young girl feel her face go hot at the sight.

“Did I wake you?” the Elvenking asked.

“I am fine.” was her immediate reply.

 Of course, upon waking, the young elandili will always be strong with her own stand when it comes to her ‘well being’.

At her reply, the Elvenking smiled wider as he quirked his brow. Though it was elating that she was well enough to be so ready to argue and energized enough to glare at him, his new worry was how he would keep her in bed. She was probably going to be well off even when she’s out of bed but the silver haired elf simply was too stubborn to let himself think that she was alright without his aid.

Thinking it was best that he didn’t argue the fact that she almost killed herself, the Elvenking simply gave a small nod at her all the while still sporting a coy smile.

“It would seem so.” he said as the young girl carefully pulled herself from under the sheets, successfully leaning on the wooden headboard behind her all the while brushing away the help the Elvenking was prepared to offer.

“Please stay and rest for now.” Thranduil said, resisting the urge to let the exhaustion color his voice.

Looking up at him, the young girl simply nodded, a passive look on her child-like face. The Elvenking froze for a moment, not even hiding the fact that she managed to confuse him.

‘ _What?_ ’ his head echoed.

It was still a fact that the young girl wasn’t comfortable enough in the Woodland Realm but with all that just came about and the fatigue set deep in her bones, Neera was now intent on healing for now. Other than that, it was obviously better to get to know the place and the exits to use for escape.

It did came to mind that the Elvenking would probably let her go if she simply asked, but for Neera it was almost impossible since she had caused so much trouble and the king seemed as stubborn as she was. So for now, she thought it best to take things slow.

With the expression on his face, Neera couldn’t help but grin as a small giggle left her throat.

“I agree.” She simply said as she finally let her shoulders relax, letting her guard down as she watched the Elvenking stare at her with his usual stoic face. Though despite the look, she was certain he was more than confused, he merely didn’t want to show it.

“I do know my limits, dear king.” She said, her gaze softening as a peacefulness set in her chest.

As the Elvenking stared at her, she noticed a change in his expression. Fondness?

The mere thought of him feeling that way was enough to make the young girl’s heart wane. She blinked at him, immediately taking her gaze away and breaking the king’s trance.

“Yes, that’s good and most preferable if it stays that way.” the king replied gaining a small scoff from the young girl.

 Right then, a knock came from the door, making both of them turn towards whoever made themselves known. Upon seeing who it was, Neera simply froze.

Donning his dark blue robes and tunic, Lord Elrond walked into the room accompanied by an elven maid with a tray of green food in her arms. Though the elven maid was more beautiful than any mortal woman the young girl had ever seen, the expression mixed with worry and exhaustion on Lord Elrond’s face kept the young girls’ eyes glued to her dear friend’s eyes.

It’s been years since she’s been given that look and the last time she got into trouble, it ended up with her feeling quite scared of Lord Elrond whenever he gets mad.

“Neera.” He sighed tiredly as he carefully held her hand in his.

“I got wind of what had happened, are you alright?” he asked, his tone worried as he frowned at the light bruises dotting the girls forearms.

“I’m fine.” the young girl replied, glaring at the Elvenking from the corner of her eye. He grinned at that, turning to the black haired elf this time. Despite the small and warm smile on his face, the Elvenking simply resisted the urge to all but pull Elrond’s hand off of the young girl’s.

“Do you wish to speak of something, Lord Elrond?” Thranduil asked, gaining the lord’s full attention this time. At the king’s question, Elrond seemed to remember something and nodded, taking note of the way the Elvenking propped himself between him and the young half-elf.

“Yes, I needed to speak with you, my lord.” He replied, his eye flashing towards Neera for a split second before he carefully planted a gentle kiss on the elandili’s hand.

 At the motion, the Elvenking felt himself twitch in slight annoyance. 

The young girl didn’t notice this but the black haired elf surely did.

Lord Elrond found himself unable to repress his mildly but wonderfully surprised smirk and turned away from Neera, heading to the door with the Elvenking following closely before he bowed his head to the young girl.

Neera returned the motion and watched the two men disappear through the door before her eyes were brought back to the tray of food placed before her, a loud and strangled gurgle immediately growling from her stomach.

 

* * *

 At the moment, the Elvenking and lord Elrond were both in the royal study, a fire crackling before them as they both held cups of wine, a conversation Lord Elrond has been desiring to talk about with the Elvenking ever since his strange announcement of the young girl’s extensive stay in the woodland realm.

“I daresay, my Lord Thranduil…” Elrond started, not knowing how to begin his question.

The Elvenking simply stared at the fire crackling before him, watching it dance quietly under his icy gaze. Something in him knew what the elf lord was going to ask but it was clear that the topic was quite hard to discuss taking note of their kin’s tradition concerning partners and the like.

As king, he of all elves of course took a great deal of thought into this. It wasn’t usual for an elf who already had a partner find another one. His late wife had already passed centuries ago and it was clear after waiting for so long, she would not return to him. Despite this, the Elvenking still found it hard to forget about her.

 As the king stayed quiet next to lord Elrond, the black haired elf already knew what he was conflicted about. Lord Elrond smiled at the king.

After all these years and the times seeing nothing but the stoic and tired look on the king’s face, now that the young girl had stumbled into the realm, it seemed the Lord Thranduil was once again regaining a slight, sudden lightness in his air and a gentleness in his features.

It was slowly getting obvious that the king had taken a liking to the girl. Probably even liking her more than he thinks.

Other than the fact that a young whirlwind had caught his heart and had once again rekindled life into his eyes, the return of the queen’s _fea_ was highly improbable. It has been more than a century since the queen’s passing. Though it was only known that she was taken to Gundabad, no one knew exactly how she passed and the Elvenking never spoke of it. Not even to his son.

It wasn’t usual for an elf to find a new partner after the death of his beloved, but Lord Elrond wasn’t one to arbitrate someone else’s affairs, especially the Elvenking’s.

Despite their reason of meeting being a conversation, the only sound in the room was the gentle crackle of the fire before the two men. The silent conversation stopped between them and all that was left was a sympathetic smile on the Lord Elrond’s face. When it comes to affairs of the heart, not even the great Elvenking is spared.

“Do what you must do.” Elrond simply said. The Elvenking glanced at him from the corner of his eye and watched a small grin stretch over his friend’s face.

“Neera has never experienced love like this, however.” Lord Elrond said, taking a sip from the chalice. “So I am not quite sure how you will go about this.”

With the lord’s words, Thranduil found himself narrowing his eyes at the black haired elf.

“How are you so sure that I would court her?” the elvenking asked, his stubborn streak oblivious of his chest going warm at the mere thought of him simply preparing a gift for the young girl.

With his oblivious question, the lord Elrond’s brow twitched up, doubting the king’s indifference.

 The Elvenking opened his mouth to retort but he closed it again, not knowing what to say. The black haired elf simply chuckled.

“Just make sure you do not hold her down too much.” was the important piece of advice Elrond believed the Lord Thranduil should know about the young girl.

Though the lord still couldn’t understand. The two have been together for what would probably be less than two days. How could the king possibly be so elated with the young girl so quickly? Neera did have her own charms that led to others easily liking her despite her storm-like nature, but still. For the king’s feelings to be thrown around so easily…

 “I will never do her the dishonor.” The Elvenking replied, watching the sun set from the corner of his eye.

Would he indeed court her? This half-human who is as fragile as glass (despite her own arguments) and is destined to cause him pain in the end when she finally succumbs to an eternal rest?

Staring at the fire, the Elvenking simply sighed, his face softening as he recalled the young elandili’s sleeping face.

He himself couldn’t understand his feelings. But this much he knew, Neera was now a part of his life and he was keen on finding out how important she was to be for him.

 


	7. Invitations and Realizations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *Tenna' ento lye omenta-Until next we meet  
> *Tenna' san'-Until then

**_ CHAPTER 7: _ **

The Elvenking mentally groaned, sighing quietly as he stopped writing, placing the quill made of a Pheasant’s emerald feather on the top of his desk before he ran his palm over his face.

At the familiar voice shrieking and shouting madly just outside his chamber’s balcony, Thranduil’s ears twitched before he found himself chuckling at the strange noises she was making.

It’s been only two days since the elandili had recovered from her injuries. Unlike other humans who would most likely stay still and keep away from rigorous activity after such a big and troublesome injury, this young girl was obviously an exception.

At the moment, she was already prancing about in the garden, battling the lord Elrond in a mock duel. Everything was seemingly going well for the elandili until her thick black hair got in the way and almost made her lose her footing and get impaled by her own friend’s sword.

When he heard of the young girl leaving the infirmary two days ago, the Elvenking was adamant in meeting her and seeing if she was indeed feeling better. But of course, political affairs regarding his kingdom and the growing trouble said to be brewing outside their borders was far more needing of his attention. And now, he was knee deep in thoughts regarding which borders he had to fortify.

For hours, he had been trying to focus on writing and figuring out a battle plan…but the young girl was noisier than a pack of Orcs!

The young girl shrieked a battle cry once again and was cut short by the sound of swords clanging together. The Elvenking knit his brows together at the sound of her grunting before she growled, her annoyed voice echoing through his chambers.

Listening to their battle, the Elvenking has been resisting the urge to take a break from his kingly job and take a peek at the two just to see if she was somehow progressing well, but his stubborn side kept pulling him farther into his chair, saying that this job was indeed more important than a girl trying to learn how to use a sword.

 

* * *

 “You rely far too much on speed that you can’t even realize there is no power left in your arm.” Elrond said with a trace of a smirk on his face as he watched the young girl take a deep and most needed breath.

Though it seemed like she was having a hard time, the young girl was indeed doing well with her training despite her progress being slower than what the lord Elrond was used to when it came to training his own soldiers.

When Mithrandir came to speak of a growing shadow over the land and the possible revival of the dark lord-Sauron, the old elf was keen on having Neera learn how to use a sword. Though she knew how to protect herself (as she had said lots of times) with her bow and quiver and was the best at throwing daggers straight into an eye of a bird, she was amazingly weak when it came to close combat.

Lord Elrond also thought that it must’ve been her current wardrobe that gave her such a hard time.

Even in Rivendell the young girl always had a bag of her own clothes-the usual body fitting tunic, pants and leather boots (that were just too ill-fitting for her body type). When the lord would offer her a lovely dress to wear when she takes even a mere stroll outside her room, she would immediately decline, giving him a sad smile before scurrying away into her quarters and refusing to wear any clothing she didn’t bring on her own.

But now that circumstance led to her not having any other kind outfit other than the ones she wore in her trek through Mirkwood, the young elandili found herself donning one of the dresses the elven maids pulled into when she was out cold in the infirmary.

The dress was a simple white but made of pure, smooth silk. For a hospital gown, it fit the young elandili quite well and made her black hair seem darker than the night as it flowed through the air when she twirled, but the young girl was far too unused to the feeling of wearing a dress.

With a cold wind suddenly moving up her legs and through her dress, she shuddered, gasping and flushing when the hem slightly pulled up and exposed her slim and slightly scarred legs.  

It wasn’t that she was raised to be conservative with her wardrobe. In fact, her mother used to laugh so hard when Neera ran around raising her dress up to her ankles and made everyone’s jaw fall at her lack of social graces.

It was simply the fact that the girl wasn’t comfortable in her own skin. Wearing dresses had always made her feel her back was left unprotected-her entire self vulnerable, open and easy to wound.

While she was busy trying to find a way to tie the hem of her dress so that it doesn’t bother her footing, Lord Elrond took a glance up at the balconies over their heads.

Above, he could see the top of the Elvenking’s head moving back and forth. It seemed like he was pacing. At each return, he slowly came closer to the balcony, obviously interested in watching Neera practice with a sword.

The lord Elrond smirked a bit.

During his visits to the woodland realm, the Elvenking was much closer to the black haired elf. Especially when he said that he was visiting merely to train Neera in the art of sword fighting.

‘ _Teach her well_.’ he remembers the Elvenking saying a day ago when they were both watching the young girl chat with some of the elf maids free of duty. Of course, he also knew that the Elvenking’s words also meant: ‘ _Make sure she doesn’t get hurt_.’

 A loud sigh made him look back up at the elandili.

“I give up.” she growled, her tone filled with annoyance.

When Elrond said that he would be teaching her how to use a sword, she was more than happy to cooperate, of course. But her wardrobe was simply too annoying and always managed to make her feel unbalanced.

Remembering the moment she almost tripped over her own dress and gave her opponent the easy chance to skewer her, she clicked her tongue. Elrond chuckled at her.

‘ _If it weren’t for this damned frock, you would be in awe right now_.’ she thought bitterly as she walked towards lord Elrond, handing him the sword shimmering under the afternoon light.

“Giving up so easily?” he asked as he raised a brow, the low teasing hum of his voice making Neera roll her eyes.

“Our swords have been clamoring for hours. I can feel my hand ringing even now.” Neera complained with a sigh, “May we continue this some other day?” She asked, her eyes quickly turning up to the woodland realm’s many halls.

After being in the Elvenking’s domain for more than two days, she admits even to herself that this place wasn’t as horrible as she once thought. The Woodland Realm wasn’t as cramped as she imagined and the cavities high above their heads were capable of letting loose winds through as well.

 Looking around, her adventurous spirit was eager to run through the halls and find secret passages if there were any.

Watching the elandili, Lord Elrond already knew what was going through her mind. The twinkle in her eyes as she subtly glanced over her surroundings was obviously a sign that she was getting impatient with their current activity.

Sheathing his sword, he sighed with a nod.

“Very well," the elf lord said, "But I expect the next time we meet, you will be far better than you were today.” He was about to leave when a thought passed his mind once again, almost making him shudder.

Turning to the young girl, he stared at her eyes, watching for any signs of annoyance or boredom in them. After knowing her for so long, he knew very well that asking what he was going to ask when she’s in a horrible mood was not a good idea.

“ _Mellonamin_ , do understand that you must stay here until Lord Thranduil says you may leave.” he said, careful with his tone as he watched the young girl’s face soften.

Of course, he expected to see her jaw stubbornly lock as it always did when she found the situation greatly disagreeable.

When she simply gave him a small nod, he blinked, as shocked as the Elvenking when she did the same to him. At her response, the black haired elf narrowed his eyes.

Unlike the Elvenking however, he knew very well how the young elandili’s mischievous mind worked.

Seeing the look he gave her, Neera raised her brow at him in exasperation.

“I will not try to escape.” she said. (Despite her also thinking how much of a lie these words were.)

After a moment, Lord Elrond hesitantly pulled his brow down before he quietly sighed through his nose.

“Alright.” He said as he pulled his head down, taking his arm to his chest before gently casting his open palm towards the young girl who bowed down and carefully pulled at the air in reply.

“ _Tenna' ento lye omenta_.” Elrond muttered.

“ _Tenna' san'_.” The young girl replied with a smile as she watched his retreating form.

 Once he was gone from her line of vision, Neera’s thoughts were immediately steered towards exploring the Woodland Realm and finding out its secrets. Looking around and watching the waterfall cascade, the sound of water gently roaring over the rocks calmed her head and made her shoulders relax.

‘ _Maybe I can stay for a little longer_.’ She thought to herself as she grinned at her fickle thoughts. Now that the Elvenking wasn’t always on her heel, living in the Woodland Realm was starting to seem preferable to her.

She was on her way to take a look around when the air behind her seemed to change and grow thicker-the feeling of someone staring at the back of her head making her itch to glare at whoever was rudely and quietly watching her.

Turning, she knit her brows. There was no one in sight. But the feeling was still there. Oddly enough, the feeling was growing warm on her. Following her gut feeling, her eyes pulled up. Once she did, she noticed her own breath stop and her heart jump.

The Elvenking was there, watching her.

Not as stiffly as he did when she was brought to him in chains. Now, there was a gentle warmth in his eyes, as if gazing at the black haired elandili was the most calming thing on earth. And to him, it was. At this moment, he wasn’t afraid of her knowing how much he was starting to adore the way her eyes glimmered under the light.

They stared at each other, the only sound audible between them being the roar of the waterfalls crashing into rocks.

For Neera, Looking up at the king was probably the most exhilarating thing she has ever done. Simply staring at Elvenking, she could feel her own expression soften and relax as she watched him fully turn to her, gently placing his hand on the stone balustrade as he did, the small motion seemingly making his entire self glow a strange aura like that of an angelic being.

Gazing at his profile, the young girl noticed what she was doing was probably so rude and it was why the king also lingered at her face. She was about to pull her eyes away when the king shocked her once again.

He smiled at her, the expression filled with a gentle warmth hiding a slight slyness as well. It might’ve been her imagination, but something in her stirred, thinking that smile wasn't just for greetings. It was filled with adoration too.

With these thoughts screaming at her head, her heart finally couldn’t take much more. She gasped, taking a breath of air before suddenly bowing her head at him and quickly striding away, not knowing where she was taking herself as her mind screamed at her realizations.

‘ _Oh Valar, this is not good_.’ She thought to herself, biting her lip as her cheeks flushed, the feeling making her stomach tighten wonderfully. She shuddered.

‘ _Am I in love with him?_ ’

* * *

At the moment, she found herself at the library, hidden between two tall and thick shelves filled with books of all sizes, this time accompanied only by her thoughts. Two days ago, she found herself conversing with Galion-the Elvenking’s butler and also the one drunkenly drowsing off when the dwarves were escaping. They got along well with each other (thanks to Galion’s knowledge of wine) and gave Neera the chance to find a new friend to confide in.

However, her current thoughts are not to be known by anyone. Especially the Elvenking’s butler.

It’s impossible for her to have feelings! And for the king of Elves? If her heart ever was true, then she knew that she was in a heap of trouble.

Not only that she was a mortal and he had been alive even before her mother came to existence, she was simply unfit to become the Elvenking’s partner because for one, she was not of noble descent and had not been nurtured as one and when it came to relations, a king such as he can only be involved with queens or princesses. And two, if (and that is a big _if_   for Neera) their relationship ever grew into something, it would only end up hurting both of them.

As a mortal, it was a fact that she was going to die soon while he would stay as fair as he is now. Dying before your loved one and getting old right before their eyes was simply too painful a thought.

Despite the sadness of her thoughts, the mere thought of him now simply had the young girl’s heart reeling. She gritted her teeth, her fists clenching hard as she resisted the urge to squeal in her seat at the thought of the smile the king gave her moments ago.

Though, she kept thinking it was possible all this was a mere infatuation. The king was known through the land for his handsome, ageless face and it was probably just getting to Neera’s head. It was just too much to accept that she was falling in love with someone.

 Now she just _had_ to escape. The flurry of emotions is too much for her to handle. And she wouldn’t want to ease herself into thoughts of him. Of him close to her and taking her in a warm embrace before placing his lips-

She jumped, gasping loudly at the warm hand placing itself on her shoulder.

Seeing who it was, she wanted to whimper.

The Elvenking stared at her in mild surprise, a small smirk growing in his face at her reaction. When she glared, he chuckled at her a bit.

“Forgive me." he said, "I thought I was the only one here.” Neera could almost hear her heart beating like a drum, it was embarrassing. His low and husky voice was much too close to Neera's sensitive ears.

“I thought the same.” she said, trying hard not to stutter as she urged herself to look directly at his blue eyes. Now that she was clear about her feelings for him, it was too hard to even stand near him.

‘ _Why on earth are you so tall?!”_ she screamed in her head as she looked up at the Elvenking, trying to catch her breath. Since the distance between the shelves was quite narrow, it was obviously hard for the elandili to keep herself from dancing into a dream thanks to his sweet scent.

The king then took his gaze to the books, freeing the elandili from his icy blue eyes as he scanned the shelves. History of Elves, Sindarin texts and the like…

He glanced back at the young girl who was still staring up at him, looking as if she was caught between fear and awe.

“Are you interested in our history?” he asked.

Though he was originally here to look for texts concerning Thorin Oakenshield and the history of the dwarves in cause of the slight friction between them about the Lonely Mountain and its contents, the need to talk with the young girl seemed much more appealing to the Elvenking. It didn’t occur to him that she was interested in his people’s history.

Hearing his question, the young girl’s jaw fell, wanting to say something despite the fact she had no reason to be in the library this late in the afternoon.

She could say she wanted to read. She always _did_ find comfort in reading all the books she could lay her hands on.

“Um…”

‘ _Wonderful response_.’ she bitterly thought as the king quirked his thick brows at her, waiting for her answer.

 “I was just thinking about how I can better my swordsmanship.” A lie. She felt her brows slacken for a tiny moment, the guilt suddenly eating at her. It wasn't easy to lie to someone she likes.

But of course, she still had her pride as a fighter. She had to say it was for her practicing how to handle a sword just so it would be clear that she wasn't just lazing around, crying about her poor sword skills. After seeing him up in the balcony, it was clear his chambers was overlooking the garden and that it was probable that he was watching her clumsy footwork the entire time.

The king thought for a moment at this. With a gentle tilt of his head (that simply made the elandili want to whimper for he looked too much like a fawn when he did so) he asked-

“Would you like me to teach you?”

Neera blinked, entirely taken by surprise.

Of course thoughts of her having the king’s attention for hours and hearing his husky and honeyed voice close to her urged Neera to say it would be wonderful for him to be her teacher, but it would be far too embarrassing.

With her clumsy footwork and her weak arms, he would most likely grow impatient with her. Other than that, Lord Elrond was already a great teacher. She was about to decline when the king beat her to her words, carefully tuning himself towards her.

“Lord Elrond is far too busy with his duties to be able to visit tomorrow.” he said as he slowly closed the distance between the two of them.

“And what better than a _king_ to teach you how to use a sword?” he asked, his voice now a mere whisper as he stared down at the young girl, watching her lids fall lower as she stared into his blue eyes.

The young girl swallowed, feeling stiffer than a statue as his scent overwhelmed her. With such a close proximity between them, she had to wonder whether or not he knew about how she started to feel for him and if he was just teasing her now.

Oh, Valar, if he was, she might not be able to resist bursting into a pitiful sob before wanting to humiliate him by beating him in a duel.

With her ears feeling hot, “Um.” was her only response.

She _did_ want to say something. To refuse him and say that Lord Elrond’s skill with the sword is just as good as his. But seeing the way his hair shuffled smoothly before her eyes, it took all her willpower not to take a strand between her fingers and feel the silkiness of it.

Realizing how she was acting, the young girl instantly whipped her head up, almost head-butting the king at her swiftness. With a clear of her throat, she regained the bright twinkle in her eyes.

“Of course, my king.” She started, “I would be honored to have you as a tutor.”

Simply thinking of the Elvenking being her tutor and being so close to her, goodness, it was too much for her to take. At the moment, she was more than thankful to herself for saying polite words for now, her smile was a perfect response.

 Seeing the smile on her face and the deep, singular depression form on her left cheek, he felt his chest tighten before he felt the edge of his lips curve up in return.

Though it didn’t seem much like it, the king was very much as elated as the young girl was. Now all he could think about was being able to command her presence for hours on end and that he might be closer to her, free of his worries and thoughts about the young girl.

He suddenly smirked, the delicious upward curve of the edges of his lips making Neera silently catch her breath as she felt the mild shudder run through her skin.

“Then, until tomorrow, Little lion.”


	8. A Battle of Stubbornness

 

 

The young girl stomped through the halls, her eyes horribly dull as the fire burned from her stomach, making its way into her arms. She really wanted to fling her sword out right now but the setting was much too small at the moment. And if she ever did such a thing, the silver haired king would most probably have his guards on her back at all times again.

At the thought of the king’s ice blue eyes glaring hard at her, complete anger fuming just behind those glassy orbs, the fire just grew stronger in her belly.

“Tch. Damn him.” loudly clicking her tongue, she didn’t even bother to notice that she stomped straight through a group of elves, most of them glaring hard at her and muttering about rudeness as they watched the half-elf lead herself into another hall, glaring at everything she set her brown eyes on.

It’s been hours since her morning meet with the Elvenking, but even now, she still couldn’t stop thinking about what happened with him.

* * *

 Navigating her way through the maze of halls, Neera stopped in her tracks all too suddenly and almost lost her footing. Remembering the Elvenking’s face lit up with the fire of a dim lamp, the small light making his eyes glimmer like stars, her heart squeezed in her chest as the memory of their meeting in the library came back to her.

“What am I doing?” she muttered to herself, straightening her back as she looked around, noticing that she was deep in the halls of the Woodland Realm now.

After the king’s invitation of teaching her how to use a sword, she would admit that he had her for a moment there. In exchange for leaving this place, now she wanted to learn from him. To be with him.

‘ _This is a horrible idea._ ’ Her conscience pricked as she simply stood in the middle of the path, tapping the side of her leg as she stared at the floor. Was it a good idea to accept his invitation?

On one hand, being taught how to use a sword was something that she gravely needed. Especially at a time like this where war against the Orcs was said to be fast approaching. But, it was also a risk of getting personally close to the king.

If she suddenly found herself getting too close…well, she stopped thinking about that to keep the blush forming on her face.

However, it didn’t make sense to her anymore. Why would he suddenly volunteer to teach her?

Save for their silent but sweet meeting in the library last night, Neera knew that the Elvenking wasn’t always warm and close to people. He was a very busy person and Neera knew that there are more important things in his kingdom to tend to rather than her sad sword skills. In the back of her head, wheels started to turn, slowly speeding up at each second that passed as she listened to the faint sound of waterfalls overhead.

‘ _Is he trying to find something out from me?_ ’

Neera wasn’t exactly a fugitive nor has she ever killed anyone, but…well, she has done many bad things but to be fair, she only did such things to keep herself alive. Recalling a specific moment before meeting Lord Elrond, the girl cringed at her memories.

Ever since that time, she could never look at dinner plates the same way again.

Being the cautious girl that she is, she rethought about finding the Elvenking and asking for that sword lesson. Everyone was already bustling about anyway. Surely the king was already busy as well. Or he must’ve meant the lesson was to be tonight when he was less busy…

 Neera was about to turn around and head back to her quarters when the sound of shoes clopping on the ground rang in her ears and stopped.

Turning, she was suddenly face to face with the Elvenking.

‘ _What a sight to behold_ …’ Neera thought to herself as she realized his clothing. For the morning, the king wore a maroon outfit. Save for his black, leather shoes, everything from his trousers to his long sleeved robes that seemed to gleam like smooth silver under moonlight was simply in the red theme. At just the right moment, the sun rays filtered through the cavities and fell over the king’s silver head, illuminating him and making Neera think she was still in a hazy dream and wonder why he always had to look so extravagant.

As a person who wasn’t quite involved and didn’t like to be involved in politics, Neera had never seen kings and nobles up close so she never knew how one would dress. She simply kept thinking that everyone would dress comfortably in a simple shirt and pants at home then wonderful, extravagant clothes outside.

Was there ever a time where he simply walked around in something a little less spectacular and more comfortable?

She did her best not to think of it. The king in less clothing?

It’s impossible to think that he’d look less than what he looks like now. If she kept thinking on it, she might just lose her head and go so red, people might start thinking she has a fever.

Sadly though, the king wasn’t looking or paying any heed to her. In one hand, he was holding up a wad of papers and in the other, a crystal glass of wine, the red liquid gently swirling along with the motion of his hand.

“Would you please excuse me?” he asked without looking up.

Neera blinked and finally realizing where she was, it was probable that she had finally wandered near the king’s private chambers.

Without saying a word, she sidestepped, giving the king a path to walk on as she watched his eyes skimming through the words, his gaze half-lidded in complete focus on his work.

Wordlessly, he slipped past her and Neera had to wonder if he was in a bad mood. Usually he would look at her and give a small and kind smile. He seemed busy but Neera was never one to keep guessing at things and right now she’d rather be prepared if they were indeed going to spar today.

“About the practice.” She loudly said, easily gaining the kings attention. He stopped in his tracks and turned to the young girl, squinting at her then blinking to refocus his eyes a bit.

At first, he couldn’t understand what she was talking about. What practice?

Then her afternoon spar with Elrond and their meeting in the library went reeling back to him.

The girl was in dire need of sword lessons. Though he really wanted to teach her right now, he currently held letters from Lord Elrond about battle strategy, what was happening back in Rivendell and also what news there was about Neera. Other than that, he was occupied by other reports. He needed to reply as quickly as possible.

Looking up at the black haired girl, he noticed she was indeed ready to battle. At the moment, the young girl was wearing a green tunic, the long sleeves rolled up to her elbows and exposing her light skin and her pants were of a silver color, quite in contrast to the heavy set boots she wore.

At her back, he could see the hilt of her sword poking out from over her shoulder and with her black hair pulled together in a tight, single braid, the Elvenking had to fight the urge to tug at it and set her mane loose.

He liked it better when she had her hair down and her features seemed to be more gentle. Then again, she still looks wonderful right now.

‘ _Just like a goddess of war._ ’

Neera raised her brows at him, her eyes shifting around in confusion and he realized only then that he hasn’t even answered her yet.

Blinking and hoping the blush wasn’t evident on his face, the Elvenking pulled his chin up.

“Give me a few hours.” He replied, “I must tend to these for the moment.”

Neera’s gaze fell to the papers he held firmly in his hands. “Oh, yes of course.” she simply muttered under her breath, feeling a little foolish. She already saw the deep concentration in his face while he was reading, obviously he was busy.

“Well then,” she started, already turning on her heel when the Elvenking cleared his throat.

“Feel free to roam around for the meantime.” The king said, smiling a bit at her. Knowing that she was quite the restless one, he figured she’d give her permission to roam the Woodland realm to her satisfaction.

“If the guards stop you, tell them I gave you my permission.” He said, going back to his papers and turning his back to the young girl. The look of absolute shock on her face was much too amusing to ignore. Going back to his chambers, the Elvenking was smiling way too much.

 After meeting the Elvenking, Neera was still trying to process what just happened. To think that the he gave her permission to roam wherever she wished to her heart’s content! After being so adamant with her staying here, this sudden situation where she’s able to go anywhere with the king’s blessing was much too shocking for her.

If he was letting her do such a thing then maybe he wasn’t in a bad mood after all.

‘ _Or maybe he’s teasing you_.’ she raised her brow at that but shook her head. How childish of the king to do that.

Looking up and still having her brows knit together in confusion, she realized that she had wandered much too far from the paths she was used to.

On each side of the path, there were medium sized waterfalls cascading into running rivers just a few feet below Neera. The air was colder and the light dimmer for the rays of the morning sun were seemingly unable to reach the place. Right in front of her was what seemed to be the end of the path.

The wooden wall was carved with intricate designs, swirls and curls accompanied by the singular carving of an elf soldier, his face shielded by a heart shaped helmet and his hair cascading gracefully over his wooden shoulders.

At first, Neera thought it was simply a dead end and she had to find her way back now but she realized that not every path ends with a carved wall. So far, all the halls she had been to would lead into another hall. Either that or the end of the path would be a door into someone’s room.

The young girl tilted her head to the side a bit, carefully studying the soldier carved eternally into the wood.  Moving closer, she reveled at the feel of cool water dabbing her face and the cold breeze of the waterfalls stirring the stray locks of her hair.

As she moved closer she could finally see it. At the right side of the soldier, right next to his sword was a vertical slit. If she squinted enough, she could see the faint light emanating from it.

Instantly, the girl felt her heart thump under her chest before she started shaking. The adventurous spirit was awakening in her and she couldn’t help but feel the excitement run through her veins like fire.

What if this was a secret door into a secret garden? Or what if it actually was a simple way out? Since no one was here, who would ever know she sneaked out?

Carefully pulling her hand up, Neera placed her hand flat on the miniscule opening and felt the slightly warmer breeze tickling the palm of her hand. Not being able to hold herself back any longer, the girl started to push. But nothing happened.

She made a face. ‘ _Of course it’s going to be arduous. It can’t be so easy_.’ with a sigh, she started studying the door. If she couldn’t push it, maybe if she pulled on something…

For a few minutes, the girl simply stood there, her arms crossed in an X as she thought and thoroughly stared at the soldier up and down, trying to look for anything that seemed out of place.

‘ _Staring is not enough_.’ She started to run her hands all over the wall, putting pressure into places that seemed to be a possible place to put a secret lever to open the door.

If someone ever saw her at this moment, they might think that she’d gone insane. They’d probably ask themselves if the carving was that attractive enough to urge people to touch. But she honestly didn’t care.

At the state of mind she’s in, the pure need for adventure tugging at her core was too much to ignore. She tried poking at the soldier’s eyes and she tried pushing at the carved jewels on his sword. She did everything and still. Nothing.

Neera took a step back and for a second, Lord Elrond’s disapproving face flashed in her mind. He really didn’t like it when Neera poked her head into places she shouldn’t. But then again, she had permission from the Elvenking himself. And the place obviously wasn’t of high security so no one was going to stop her now.

Right then, she froze up. Realizing the obvious.

‘ _I might need an_ actual _key for this_.’ with the thought, she groaned, feeling annoyed after everything she went through.

Well, the Woodland Realm was big. There are other places she can venture into. Right when she was about to go back, walking backwards, at the corner of her eye, she caught sight of something sticking out from the waterfall. It must’ve been a branch since there were small trees here too but she looked anyway.

At the right side of the left waterfall was what seemed to be a branch, looking at it more, it seemed like someone forcefully tugged the upper half down so now it seemed to be shaped like a lightning bolt. It was unusually thick and had a darker contrast from the tree’s bark so Neera blinked and practically came sprinting back.

Staring at it, a smile cracked on the girl’s face. Squinting through the water roaring over it, Neera could see the branch was covered in the same carvings on the door. Now that she found the lever, the only challenge left was how she was going to get to it. Though it wasn’t far, it was still close to the middle of the waterfall and Neera had to stretch really far just so the tip of her fingers can feel the smooth wood.

Now that’s she’s found the way to open the door, there was no way she was going to give up now. Even if it meant that she could somehow trip and fall over the path’s edge and into the running river below her.

Taking hold of the tree trunk winding into the wall, the black haired girl reached farther for the lever. While doing so, all she could hear in her head were screams begging her not to fall.

Other than it might hurt a lot, she would end up bothering everyone and that includes the Elvenking and Lord Elrond as well. if the latter found out she was hurt again, he’d probably tell the Elvenking to double the security around the realms.

After a few heart pounding missteps and slight slips, she was finally able to grasp the lever and with a heavy push, she heard it creak before she was finally able to fully push it down, a singular click echoing in her ears before the soldier’s sword suddenly emanated a natural light, another light click sounding in her ears.

Pulling back, Neera stared at the open blade and could see green on the other side. Bushes and rocks atop a fresh floor of grass.

Carefully placing her fingers between the small, vertical opening, she pulled the door to the left and smoothly, it followed, hiding itself within the wall as a warm breeze kissed Neera’s face.

On the other side of the door was what seemed to be a garden.

With grass as green as emerald and superb, tall trees with thick branches full off dark green leaves standing in a circle around the garden like guardians, Neera could barely contain the childish smile on her face. Looking around, it was lighter here and she could feel the earth’s vibrant aura just seeping into her skin, warming her entire self.

It’s been much too long since she’s been out of the dark woodland realm.

Turning her head, her eyes searched for anyone that could mean to stop her adventure. When she was sure everything was clear, she gingerly took a step over the grass and carefully pulled the door shut and this time saw a carving of a long haired woman, her hair wildly floating about her head like snakes and her wooden eyes close tight as she gracefully held a dagger in her hands, the tip of the blade pointing downwards.

She left a small opening in the door and just to make sure it wouldn’t suddenly close, she placed a stone between the wall and the corner of the door.

Once that was done, turning back to the garden, she took a very deep breath, feeling the smile curving on her lips as she smelled the familiar woody scent hinted with the slight fragrance of water.

She took a turn about the small garden. There wasn’t much save for a sundial placed on top of a cream colored pillar about half as tall as Neera. It sat in the middle of the garden and she could see the shadow pointing at the top left corner. So she’s been wandering around the place for hours now. It’s already close to 10 in the morning.

‘ _And the Elvenking’s still busy_.’

Though she understood that his kingdom came first above all else, she couldn’t help but feel a little lonely and very bored. At this time, she would usually be sparring with Elrond or planning an escape route back to Rivendell.

Blinking, she looked back up, seeing that at the edge of the circular garden, there was an entrance into the wood. Mirkwood perhaps?

This was her chance to get away now. To get back to her comforting friend-Lord Elrond. Until now, she still couldn’t understand why the Elvenking insists she stays here and it’s driven her a little mad at times but still. She couldn’t move closer to the forest’s entrance.

‘ _You can’t leave_.’ her conscience whispered and it was right.

If she chose to leave right now, the Elvenking might be furious. She doesn’t know him well enough to say such a thing about him but still, judging by how much Lord Elrond wanted for Neera to listen to the king, it seemed disobeying him was a horrible idea. And with Elrond coming into the picture, well…it might not be a friendly welcome back she’d be running into.

‘ _He’d sermon me to death_.’ Neera thought with a sigh. Plus, she left her bow and quiver in her room along with her other clothes. There’s no way she’s leaving anything behind. It’s all the things she had left after all.

Right then, the Elvenking flashed in her mind. Why would he keep her here?

She still couldn’t understand anything and now, she simply thought that the said king must’ve had some information regarding her delinquent life and wanted to keep her under his thumb just to make sure she wouldn’t cause trouble.

She knit her brows at that, making a face. Well, whatever the reason, she intends to find out and she won’t leave until she knows.

 The Elvenking was currently standing in the garden Neera and Elrond were previously sparring in.

He was ready to teach the young girl and keep her in his sights for hours but oddly enough, the guards were having a very difficult time trying to find the girl. It’s been two hours now and they still haven’t come back with the black haired girl. Thranduil was getting worried.

After the time she almost drowned in the rapids, the Elvenking couldn’t stop concocting thoughts of the young elandili falling off somewhere and hitting her head on the hard wood floor.

At the moment, he was standing again. For the past hours he’d been standing then sitting, then standing back up again, hoping to see Neera rushing towards him, ready for her lessons with the childish brightness gleaming in her eyes like pearls.

His patience had run its peak and he was about to go off and search for her himself but just as he turned to exit the garden, his eyes fell upon the girl jogging towards him, her hair carrying small leaves between the braids now. Subtly pulling up a brow, the Elvenking’s hand twitched, resisting the urge to reach into her hair and gingerly pluck the leaf from her silky mane.

Once she was standing a few feet away from the silver haired elf, Neera cleared her throat and gave a singular bow with her head. A minute one, the Elvenking had to smirk at the fact she still didn’t want to bow to anyone, not even him. She was still a wild stallion that he just can’t tame.

“Are you ready for your lessons?” he asked, his husky voice louder than the contending waterfalls around them.

“Yes.” Neera simply replied.

She instantly unsheathed her sword and readied herself into a fighting stance, the action easily making the Elvenking’s smirk grow wider as he watched the young girl’s bright eyes suddenly grow dimmer and he could see that those brown orbs were completely focused on him now, trying, assessing and figuring out a way to easily out maneuver him.

The king didn’t want to jump in yet. He wasn’t the type do so anyway, so he analyzed the girl first.

‘ _What amazing concentration_.’ The Elvenking thought with an impressed smirk.

At first, he honestly thought that the girl wasn’t doing as well as Elrond thought. With the way he saw the girl fumbling over her dress and screaming like a wild dog as she charged the black haired elf lord head on, the Elvenking thought she was still too raw, too headstrong to be a good swordsman. But that look on her face was good.

So he waited for what she was going to do first. As predicted, Neera’s eyes seemed to suddenly grow bright before she suddenly pushed off the ground, her feet light and soundless as she charged the silver haired elf head on, both hands on her sword’s hilt to rally her strength.

With her arm swinging back to take in that surge of power, she growled before she swiped her sword, attempting to clash with the king’s own blade and engage him into the spar. But before her sword could even get close, the king spun to the right, as graceful as an ocean wave, his blade clanging with Neera’s and forcing her to stumble over her feet.

His robe gracefully flowing around him, the Elvenking stopped and Neera had to keep herself from attempting a head on charge again since she saw the smug smirk plastered on his face.

“You fight like your age, but you are much too focused on power.” he said. Neera ground her teeth together. The last time, it was speed, now it was power?

‘ _Why is this so complicated_?’

“And we must work on your footwork.” The Elvenking said, carefully crossing his arms as he continued to rewind and rethink the girl’s earlier attack.

All of a sudden, he couldn’t help but keep thinking about the fierceness in her eyes. If she was good enough and was more controlled with her strength…well, everything else actually, she could have a chance of entering his royal guard.

 “Well now,” he started, turning his back to her and prying his eyes away from her own brown ones, “I will be teaching you the basic stances. We will do this carefully.” He said and suddenly smiled, his sapphire eyes glinting with a slight mischievousness. “and there’s no need to be so wild and…loud.”

Neera narrowed her eyes at the Elvenking before shaking her arm and relieving it of the sudden pinching feeling. She must’ve pulled a muscle after she strained too hard to reach his blade.

“Alright, show me how.” Neera said, pulling her sword up and waiting. Knitting his brows a bit, he approached her and stared at her hands. His eyes pulled up to her face and Neera had to stop herself from flinching at the sound of his chuckle-deep and much too relaxed.

A moment later, he shocked her further when he gingerly placed his hand atop hers, the coolness of his palm making the girl shudder.

“Don’t keep your hand too high. You’ll lose your balance and you might end up cutting yourself in the process.” He quietly said, carefully pushing down Neera’s hand farther from the start of the blade and closer to the middle of the smooth, wooden hilt. She followed his movement and kept her eyes focused on the sword.

With him being this close, his chest almost touching her arm and the faint smell of peppermint on his robes, it was too hard for Neera to control the aching need to move closer to the silver haired elf.

‘ _Control yourself_.’ She growled in her head.

The Elvenking, oblivious of the girl’s flowery thoughts, was in the midst of explaining different ways of holding the sword and how she can change the way she holds them during a battle. He stood a little far from her now, sampling stances with his own sword without looking back at the young girl.

Neera was completely focused on him, listening to the way his low voice never seemed to waver and never seemed to shake. She watched his back as well, how straight his posture was and how gentle he was moving despite the power he seemed to be displaying at the moment.

Was this the charm of a king?

An hour later, they were already doing footwork. The Elvenking gracefully spinning and stopping, his feet effortlessly weaving over each other while Neera followed behind him like a duckling, stumbling now and again before her feet finally tangled together and she fell to the grass with a gentle THUD.

Turning his head away, the king cleared his throat, trying hard to keep the laugh in his stomach as he grinned to himself.

“Yes, yes, I know.” Neera loudly said, getting back up her feet as she narrowed her eyes at the king, “such a clumsy little girl.”

Thranduil flashed a grin at the young girl, amused and greatly taken in by the way she seemed to be unconsciously pouting.

“On the contrary, you’re doing quite well, Neera.”

Despite the annoying smirk on his fair face, at hearing him say her name, Neera tried to keep her own smile down to no avail. Hearing her name come from his lips sounded much too beautiful, it was too unfair that he had such a voice.

They were about to continue the lesson when suddenly, the Elvenking pulled his hand up, his palm facing Neera and making her blink in slight confusion. Sheathing his sword, the Elvenking started towards the inner halls.

“Respite, let us rest for a moment. The next lesson now is sword techniques and you need to be more energized.” The Elvenking said as he walked past Neera who simply watched him climb up a flight of stairs. Slightly knitting her brows together, she looked up at the stone balcony above her head and a moment later, her heart stopped.

‘ _In his private chambers?!_ ’

The girl was in the middle of a slight panic with her face heating up when she heard the Elvenking calling her name.

“Neera, come and sit down for a moment.” It wasn’t even a request. It was an order. Narrowing her eyes, Neera scoffed but followed anyway, trotting up the stairs and not minding the fact that she was about to come up into the Elvenking’s private chambers.


	9. A Quiet Departure

Climbing the last flight of stairs, Neera’s eyes went wide at the room she as now standing in. Though she liked the walls and decorated paths of the Woodland realm, the king’s quarters were much too beautiful to ignore.

At first, she tried to look for the small table with wine and crystal chalices for they were the first items she saw upon entering this room for the very first time and she looked for the pool as well, but the room was entirely different.

The ceiling was high, high up, held into place by tall pillars of trees, their branches winding over and into each other, walking farther in, she could see at the left side was a wide and smooth oak table, the tabletop and thick legs adorned with beautiful carvings.

Atop the art was a smoother surface, probably so it would be easier for the king to write on. Next to it, were papers neatly spread on the surface accompanied by a quill and ink bottle that seemed to have a golden rim.

In the middle of the room, there was a long and wide, half-circular couch covered in warm and soft looking blankets. In the middle of it, a thick velvet colored carpet was laid out with fluffy pillows neatly arranged on top of it. Looking up, Neera saw the warmth she was feeling was actually emanating from a gigantic fireplace sitting right before the carpet. Staring at it, the fireplace was big enough for a large horse to stand in.

And at the far right ride was another, smaller room. She didn’t dare go closer to it since she could see, even just by peeking, the very wide and long bed, the sheets a pale and clean silver color, the cloth seemingly gleaming under a natural light. Moving ahead, Neera finally realized that was where the balcony was.

She didn’t even realize it, but while she was busy sight-seeing, the Elvenking was in the middle of a quiet conversation with one of his guards.

“…in the lower halls, the door was left open.”

The guard saw Neera and instantly stopped talking. The king wasn’t even facing her, but he was tensed and for some reason, Neera could feel the air getting heavy all of a sudden.

With a silent motion of the king’s head, the guard gave a quick nod before he left the room, exiting through another way and leaving Neera with the suddenly all too quiet Elvenking.

“Is something the matter?” Neera asked. At her voice, the Elvenking turned his head to her. Seeing his face, Neera froze up, a sudden cold and numbing fear setting in her chest.

He was angry.

It was no more than a silent glare but as he fully turned to the girl, Neera momentarily felt tiny as she stood paralyzed by the king’s icy glare, confused.

“You left the woodland realm?” he asked, staring at Neera as he waited patiently for her answer.

Neera took a quick and shaky breath. “Yes.” she simply replied, her eyes quickly shifting all over the place as she bravely took a step forward, not wanting to fall down the stairs and get a new concussion.

“I said that you are _not_ to leave this realm.” The Elvenking said, his voice sounding louder and sharper at each word. Hearing his words suddenly filled with a strange anger, Neera was more confused than scared.

“You said I could go where ever I wished.” Neera said, knitting her brows together and easily deflecting the king’s growing annoyance.

“I never said you could go outside.” he countered, pulling his chin up now and finally showing his arrogant display of prowess but Neera was undaunted. To her, he was merely a child that was continuously fighting even though he knew he was wrong. With that thought, annoyance sparked in Neera as well, rapidly turning into hot anger as she gritted her teeth, doing her best to control the glare on her face.

“Why are you getting angry?” she asked, failing to control the words that left her mouth in an almost hiss. At the question, the Elvenking set his jaw, staring hard at Neera and noticing that she was getting angry as well and he just couldn’t understand. His chest grew hotter and his anger flared.

“Because you defied my rule and left the woodland realm.” He snapped, “I said you were _not_ allowed to go outside.”

Finally, Neera erupted.

“You said I could go anywhere I wanted to.” she growled, not even caring about the consequences the king might have in store for her reaction. It was true anyway and he was once again doing what she hated the most-taking her freedom away.

That statement wasn’t enough. She wanted to get up in his face. To prove that she had nothing to apologize and feel so small for.

“I specifically remember you saying that I was free to roam around and if anyone stopped me, I can tell them that you gave me permission. As far as I can tell, I didn’t break _any_ rule today.” she said, her voice shaking along with her hand as she glared at the Elvenking who was now standing mere inches away from her.

Hearing her defense, the Elvenking gritted his teeth. She was right after all and he remembered saying such a thing before she brought it up.

But still, stubbornly, he clung to the idea of her leaving the safety of his halls.

He didn’t want her out there. He didn’t want her to _leave_.

Especially since she had no experience using a sword and he could see that she didn’t have her arrows with her. If any Orc coincidentally came by, how on earth would she protect herself? Right now, he couldn’t afford seeing her injure herself again and he didn’t like thinking that she would be gone all of a sudden.

He still had so many questions about her swimming in his mind, about why he was so drawn to her. And they still were unanswered. So far, all he knew was that the girl was infuriatingly stubborn and had an amazingly short temper.

But he didn’t say that. He didn’t say he wanted her to stay. Instead he chose the worse reply.

“Do not go outside again.”

Neera stared up at the Elvenking, her nostrils flaring and her jaw tightly set. She didn’t want to listen. All she could see standing before her now was a controlling man, a hurdle to her chase towards freedom and happiness.

Giving one last glare, with all the strength she could muster, the girl turned on her heel and hurried down the stairs, fuming while the Elvenking simply stood in his room, paralyzed by her sudden exit. In his chest, he could feel something squeeze as she watched the girl leave and it only got him even more annoyed.

* * *

 Now, Neera was back in her own chambers, it was a simple room. Quarters that had a nice but simple bed big enough only for her, a wide window decorated with strings of wood winding into each other at the top and at the other side was a small desk, the compartment under the table filled with papers and a quill and ink bottle.

Huffing, she plopped unto her bed, crossing her arms over her chest as she stared at the wall…well, more of glared at it.

In the back of her head, a voice kept tugging at her, telling the girl to go and apologize to the king. Looking at it from his point of view, he did say that she wasn’t supposed to go and leave the woodland realm. And going outside was pretty much leaving the place.

But she angrily shook her head at the voice, telling it to shut up. She wasn’t going to apologize. Form her point of view, the king said she was allowed to go _anywhere_ _she wished_. Well, technically, outside was anywhere and she didn’t go far anyway. So what was he getting so upset about?

Neera couldn’t understand him.

She started to take off her sword. Staring at it, she suddenly remembered the coolness of his large hand, the way it gently sat over hers. Not really dominating, but simply guiding and protective.

A moment later, the sadness was evident on her face, her room suddenly felt too cold, too quiet. She wanted to feel that hand again, to feel the warmth emanating from his chest and the tips of his silver hair gently brushing over her lashes.

Realizing she was thinking like a love struck child, Neera angrily sighed, huffing as she placed her elbows over her knees, her head weakly lolling to the floor.

“How annoying.” she muttered through her teeth, her face suddenly feeling hot at the thought of the Elvenking’s rare and innocent smirks.

 While she was busy thinking of curse words, someone suddenly knocked at her door. Surprised, Neera whipped her head up, instantly and naively thinking it was the Elvenking come to talk to her but seeing who it was, she froze.

‘ _So many surprises today_.’

It was the young prince. Today, he was wearing a fitted, light blue tunic paired with pants of the same color. To top it all off, he wore black boots and a bow and quiver was strapped to his back. Legolas stared at the girl with his light blue eyes, wondering what she was so distressed about but he could care less, someone asked a favor from him.

“My guard and I are leaving for Rivendell to meet with Lord Elrond.” He said, at the mention of the old elf’s name, Neera perked up, not even bothering to hide her sudden brightness of mood. “Would you like to come along?”

She was about to open her mouth when the Elvenking suddenly popped in her head, his angry face souring her mood once again.

“What did your father say?” she asked, trying to hide the way she was grinding her teeth.

Legolas stared at her. Though Neera thought she was hiding it very well, her annoyance at the mention of his father’s name was evident in the way she held herself-her arms crossed over each other and her foot impatiently tapping on the floor.

He recalled his father’s words just a few moments ago. He allowed for the young girl’s leave, saying: “She’s free to do as she chooses.” but the reply sounded quite annoyed and he seemed distressed as well, sitting behind his desk and staring into the air with a glare on his face.

‘ _They must’ve fought about something_.’ Legolas thought. He narrowed his eyes at the elandili, suspicious.

Though it seemed to be a change of pace and some of the elves seemed to find the girl quite good company, the prince still found the girl’s attitude towards his father quite annoying. To be so brazen in the presence of a king. He heard about her lashing out when his _adar_ said she couldn’t leave yet. And now, he started to think her bad mood was once again about her leaving the woodland realm.

 “What did you and father fight about?” he asked, not even bothering to hide any suspicion he had.

Neera froze for a moment but recovered and gave the prince a good, stone cold glare. “Nothing.” she said, attempting to say the word without a hiss.

With the girl’s testy reply, Legolas decided to let it go and simply raised a brow at the girl. A moment later, he turned to the door, glancing at Neera from the corner of his eye.

“Will you join us or not?” he asked.

With a huff, Neera took her bow and arrows then stomped out the room. At first, she thought about staying and confronting the Elvenking for their spat but instantly, the thought was swiped away along with the wind. She doesn’t have anything to apologize for, nor does she wish to.

Once she was ready, Legolas led her through the halls and towards the front gate where the other elves were waiting, weapons on their backs and confusion spreading on their face as they saw Neera walking behind the elf prince.

As the front gates opened, Neera stared ahead, her heart prancing at the sudden breeze kissing her face.

Looking ahead, there were fourteen horses at the ready, one of them already catching Neera’s eye for it had a smooth and beautiful black mane. Above them, the leaves swayed, the gentle crackling of branches and shuffling of the leaves like music in Neera’s ears. It was as if the wind was calling her, saying that her absence in the open earth was dearly missed.

“We will return quickly.” Said Legolas, the announcement only meant for the elandili standing next to him. Though his father said she was allowed to go with them, he never said she was allowed to stay long.

“ _I still need her here_.” Legolas recalled his father saying before he left.

Neera simply glanced at the prince, regarding his words with nothing but a blink then looked away, not saying another word. She honestly didn’t care. As long as she got away from this place, even if it were a mere two hours, she’d take it.

Suddenly feeling annoyed, she found herself glancing back into the woodland realm, looking up at the direction where the Elvenking’s throne was sitting in all its majesty.

Though she was glaring at the air, her brows knit hard together, her heart curled into a ball.

‘ _Wouldn’t he at least be looking out at me somewhere_?’ she thought, reeling at the Elvenking’s strange moods. Before he became so controlling and stubborn, he was so different when they were training. Gentle and calm, relaxed and being with him, it was like being with a friend-someone that held his back to protect her and taught her how to protect someone else.

She allowed herself a moment of weakness and felt her eyes soften, her expression slightly pained as she quietly huffed.

“At least come and glare at me again.” she muttered so quietly, Legolas couldn’t understand a word she said and nor could Neera. Now, as she made her way to her chosen horse, her face was heating up at the thought of the Elvenking’s beautiful blue eyes as maddening as a storm.

 


	10. Caught Unaware

_**CHAPTER 10:** _

  
Throughout the entirety of the trip to Rivendell, Neera chose to stay at the far back of the group, too buried inside her own thoughts to notice the young elf prince sneaking glances over his shoulder, wondering why the young girl’s face continued to hold the most bitter expression. He didn’t understand what kind of look it was. Just that it was a very, incredibly focused glare on her horse’s mane.

“She’s been like that since we left.”

Legolas turned his head to the soprano voice and found the captain of the guard grinning at him, her green eyes sparkling with slight hilarity. The prince raised a pale brow at her expression, feeling a little irate and puzzled at Tauriel’s words.

“Do you enjoy her presence as well?” he asked after a moment of silence.

Though he doesn’t know much about the captain’s daily routines and whether or not she’s been talking with the half-elf, Legolas did know about the talk and gossip spreading throughout the woodland realm.

“I heard she ran from the king right before he was going to question her.” one elf had said with his voice tangled in hidden admiration,

“She was said to be an incredible marksman.” Another whispered,

“She’s openly rebellious. Hah! Quite troublesome sometimes, actually.” Some would laugh.

All in all, the prince knew that almost everyone in the kingdom had been taken in by her rebelliousness and that some were starting to say that the girl was actually a very interesting and amusing person to be around. Legolas wanted to roll his eyes every time he heard anything like this.

“Don’t you enjoy it?” Tauriel asked, turning to glance back at Neera as well to find that she was suddenly busy tearing a large leaf to pieces under her clawed hands.

“She’s…interesting.” Tauriel said with an amused smile before turning her head back to the path, carefully pushing away a thin branch away from her face and grinning when she remembered her first meeting with Neera.

Seeing the young elandili glaring right at the prince when he ordered her to keep away from her weapons was quite strange and slightly nerve-wrecking. Tauriel started to think that brash attitude must’ve been a show of how powerful Neera was. That or, Neera was just too ignorant to know what kind of people she was going to be thrown at.

As if hearing the captain’s thoughts, Legolas scoffed.

“The girl stubbornly refused to answer me when I asked what she was and simply turned her head away.” he said, “it’s not flattering, you know?”

Suddenly feeling annoyed, Legolas started to think about his father again and recalled the troubled look clear on his regal face. The blue eyes burning and gleaming with annoyance was a look he’s only seen when the king was busy stressing over foreign invaders in the land. Ever since the young elandili started making the woodland realm her own home, it seemed his father’s head had been in a state of utter chaos.

“Father also seemed distressed when I told him about our journey.” Legolas said, “they must have fought about something.” ‘ _It seems I’m not the only one irked by her presence_.’ He thought to himself.

Tauriel blinked at the prince’s puzzled expression then straightened her back. Recalling something one of her guardsmen had told her. “I heard that she defied the king’s orders.”

The prince stared at the captain of the guard and stopped his jaw from falling as his blood turned cold.

“One of my guards was patrolling the lower halls,” Tauriel started, “and saw that the gate leading into Mirkwood was left open. Peeking in, he said he saw Neera staring into the woods. Maybe thinking about an escape route.”

 Glancing back at the girl who was now looking a tad bit calm as she petted her horse, Legolas regained his composure, losing his slight shock and gaining a sudden annoyance that pushed into his chest, burning like a hot branding iron.

“She already glared at me before, caused trouble in the woodland Realm, glared at me again and now she disobeys my father?” the words almost came out as a hiss from his clenched jaw.

He turned back to Tauriel then furrowed his brow, tuning his expression with the annoyance and befuddlement mixing in him.

“You think _this_ is interesting?” he asked, “she’s just a child who doesn’t know her place.”

Tauriel shrugged her shoulders. “It’s true she’s quite a free spirit and that she gets into all sorts of trouble without seeming to care,” she turned to the prince, grinning again. “But I think that’s exactly why she’s so fascinating.”

Well, she was strange, Legolas would admit that. Ever since the first time he’s felt her singular and pure presence in that jail cell, the young prince still thought that something about her seemed familiar. An extremely distant memory for his still younger years. Until now, he still didn’t know what it was about her that sometimes made him feel so at home with her to the point that he doesn’t even mind her holding her weapons right at his face.

 Legolas inwardly groaned.

The last time Neera had a weapon to his face was when she and Lord Elrond were practicing with their swords. He simply grew curious as to what was making such noises similar to a dying bird, so when he got closer to them, Neera was in the middle of a brisk whirl when he stepped too close and almost had his nose pierced.

Maybe he was just warming up to her presence in the kingdom, but Legolas was much too comfortable around her sometimes, it was unsettling. He barely knew this girl yet here he was getting worried about the young girl sitting at the far back of his troop and hoping that she wouldn’t suddenly fall into a river again.

Another inward groan. She might be a bit strange and fascinating too, maybe, but his annoyance towards the young girl was still too dominant.

Legolas was about to retort when Tauriel shifted in her seat, a sudden orange ray of sunlight brightening the fair and smooth skin on her oval face.

“We’ve arrived.”

Legolas turned his head and saw the valley standing tall and harmonious in the green of the trees. While the woodland realm hidden in the underground of the forest, Imladris carefully wove itself into nature with houses held up by beautiful stone pillars and graceful archways while below these houses ran rivers that simply wound around the tall and powerful stone pillars.

All around him, Legolas could hear the sound of water cascading gently into rocks at the bottom of a river. Before them lay a long, stone bridge placed right over the river gently flowing beneath, the sound of water trickling and moving against rocks evident in the elf’s ears.

He doesn’t know much about Neera, but he did know that she wanted to leave the woodland realm in order to get back to Imladris. Seeing the beauty of the valley before the setting sun, he could understand why she wants to get back so desperately.

Before he could even start towards the bridge, a black horse carrying its black haired rider sped right past him, its hooves slamming and clopping against the stone bridge while its rider’s black mane seemed to glide in mid-air, shining under the orange sun.

Legolas had to repress his growl through gritted teeth. Watching Neera as she sailed right past the two stone guards flanking the other side of the bridge, the prince exhaled loudly.

“Why does this girl have no patience?” he muttered instead as he gently nudged the side of his own horse, following Neera who was already jumping off her saddle and heading right for the stairs leading up to Lord Elrond’s home.

 

Too engrossed in the emotions welling up inside her and overflowing warmly under her skin, Neera couldn’t even hear the prince calling her name.

Looking up, Neera’s eyes softened, the hot and lengthy anger for the Elvenking quickly extinguished by the sight of The Last Homely House in Rivendell. It’s been a long time since she has returned, but even now, the calmness that instantly washed over her was exquisite as she studied her surroundings like an infant who’s seeing the world for the first time.

Rivendell had many beautiful things in it and Neera greatly loved every crevice she could sneak into, but all she could stare at now was the first flight of stone stairs flanked by two guards at the end before a new flight turned to the right, leading into Elrond’s home and another flight stood behind the two guards, leading farther into the home.

 Looming just over the stairs was a wide and tall building, its front side delicately curved inwards. Instead of a stiff wall, the side was exposed to the fresh air with only numerous archways and a long stone balustrade acting as a barrier from falling into the waterfalls below.

Seeing the place again, Neera could recall just standing before the balustrade, silently letting her eyes roam the valley to see if she could find any secret passage way or anything new and interesting to bother.

Clenching her jaw, she wanted to just run up the stairs and fly through the place to find her old friend, to cage Lord Elrond in a tight embrace. Though she’s been moving around Middle earth like a blind bat after her mother died and had taken the essence of home with her, Neera could feel it again now.

She was home. And the braziers at the end of the stairs before her lit with dancing fire just enhanced the gladness welling up in her like warm honey.

Behind her, Legolas and his small troop had caught up to her, the sound of their horse’s hooves clopping against the stone waking Neera from her trance. Like an arrow, her annoyance easily shoved back into her chest. At the moment, there was still a sliver of anger in her and she really wanted nothing but peace and quiet to shake it off.

Right after Legolas had pushed off his horse, a familiar, tall silhouette emerged from the very top of the stairs. Wearing seemingly comfortable purple robes, Lord Elrond gazed down the stairs, finding his eyes instantly landing on the young elandili who seemed to be looking quite sleepy.

Elrond thought that the young girl was simply too tired from the long journey from the woodland realm to his domain but of course, he was wrong. Neera definitely wanted to give a full smile to her guardian, but she just couldn’t return his ear to ear smile. She was still much too annoyed to give away something real and genuine.

Climbing down the long flight of stairs, lord Elrond gave them all the usual greetings, already talking about a great luncheon waiting for them all. Once he got closer, Legolas wisped past Neera and gave a small bow with his pale head.

“Lord Elrond,” he started, nodding a chin towards Neera who simply moved farther from the prince.  

“I brought her back for a visit as I said.” the crown prince gave off a small and charming smile, the depression on his smooth cheek instantly appearing and making Neera flinch.

‘ _Was that how that damn king looked like when he was younger and smiled?_ ’

Feeling that someone was staring at him, Legolas glanced down towards Neera who instantly rolled her eyes, stubbornly turning her head from the prince. Legolas subtly narrowed his eyes in return watching this childish banter, Lord Elrond chuckled, gaining everyone’s attention.

 “Well it’s a miracle that you get her here.” the lord said. Neera stiffened in confusion. “I thought you’d be having too much of a splendid time to come along with young Legolas.”

That did it.

Neera rolled her eyes with a loud growl then stomped up to the stairs, not caring about the confused stares burying into her back, watching her hair stubbornly bobbing on her back as she marched into Lord Elrond’s home like an angry elfling.

* * *

 

It has been hours since their arrival into Rivendell.

 At the moment the young girl was in Elrond’s study, chewing on a bit of her dark hair as she stood before a long and wide shelf of books, trying to occupy herself while Lord Elrond was busy conversing with Legolas. She didn’t know what it was about but in the back of her mind she could only guess that it was something about the rumored rising war against the vile Orcs.

Looking up from the book she was trying to decipher, Neera blinked in slight bewilderment at the white light beaming over her head and pooling over the shelf.

Turning around, she saw the full moon had risen high over the dome of Elrond’s study. She didn’t realize she’s been there for so long. And after all those hours…she didn’t learn anything from the book she was “reading”.

Not shaken by the fact she didn’t learn anything and was just blindly looking at words and smoothing past them, Neera cocked her head back a bit. Slightly surprised.

“I’ve never stood in one place for so long.” She muttered absentmindedly to herself.

“Yes, it is quite surprising.”

Turning her eyes to the door, she caught two grey eyes, tired as they watched her with slight amusement. “I’ve never seen you so focused on something and not feel your feet itch.” Lord Elrond said, moving towards her, his robes gracefully smoothing over each of his steps.

Right beside Neera was a long and wide wooden desk. reaching it, Elrond placed a hand on the smooth table top, fondly remembering seeing the young girl on a gentle night like this just sitting right on top of the desk, silently watching the moon with wide doe eyes, not even blinking and looking as if she was absorbing all the moon’s brightness into herself. Even back then, he couldn’t understand what her mind was occupied with. And now, he had to try understanding the young girl.

“What was wrong with you this afternoon?” he asked. Neera looked up at him. Elrond went a little frigid at the sight of her brown eyes, half lidded and gleaming under the ray of the moon with absolute annoyance. The last time he saw that look it was when the Elvenking had announced her extended stay.

Of course, after all those hours embraced in silence, Neera was able to tire out her annoyance for the Elvenking. But she was always the type of person to instantly turn red at the mention of what had angered her even when it had happened ages ago.

Not wanting to argue with her guardian, Neera quietly closed the book in her hands and pushed it back into the shelf with its siblings. “Nothing. I’m sorry if I acted out rudely.” she simply said, already marching towards the open door and planning to spend the night walking around Rivendell like a depressed ghost.

It was better for her to think this way. Remembering the way she acted when the Elvenking had announced her extended stay (house arrest) in the woodland realm, Neera could only feel sorry that Elrond had to endure all that unpleasantness of hers. Of course someone would usually think that they should let go of that callous attitude, but Neera was horribly stubborn.

‘ _I’m gonna be angry and no one’s going to stop me_.’ she thought, suddenly getting angry again and feeling the muscle in her jaw set.

“Talk to me, _mellonamin_.” Lord Elrond loudly called before Neera could touch the doorway.

Carefully, she turned a head back to her guardian who was fully turned towards her, his brows furrowed in obvious worry. She had to repress a scoff.

‘ _What a father, you are._ ’

Neera told Elrond everything that had happened but of course, she left out the parts where she started to have feeling for the king. Who knows what kind of trouble and sermon she’d fall into when Elrond finds out about that.

After everything, Elrond simply gave off an incredibly heavy sigh. The guilt instantly toppled over Neera’s head like a giant boulder.

“I am so sorry you had to meet me.” she loudly said as she leaned on the doorway, feeling annoyed, guilty, embarrassed and slightly amused all at the same time.

At her sudden apology, Elrond glanced up at her from under his lashes, seeing the look of slight exhaustion on her youthful face. In the back of his head, tons of thoughts battled against him.

Hearing her story, he was quite understanding of the Elvenking’s actions. The Elvenking might not know it himself, but he truly was slightly paranoid when it came to letting his people out of the kingdom. He was much too afraid that they might get hurt out in the cruelty of the outside. Though he was strict, the Elvenking only got angry out of worry for Neera.

If Elrond was in his position, he would’ve scolded Neera for her recklessness as well.

Anyone who has spent just enough time with the young girl could see it. How much trouble she could get herself into if she ever got loose in the wilderness. With Orcs running around, Elrond was nothing but positive that Neera would challenge the horrendous creature in a duel, not having any clue of how outmatched she would be against even the lowest soldier. With her sword skills, Elrond could only feel his stomach twist at the thought of the girl in a battlefield.

As for Neera’s actions in the woodland realm…he could only groan. Though he knows of her love for freedom equal to that of a great eagle’s, one had to have limitations and think about the people around them. The Elvenking must’ve been so worried for her safety. Adding to all that, Neera was old enough to realize the limitations set for her and she should at least try to keep that in mind.

Though Elrond knew it was suicide to say all of this out loud, he said everything through the wild and worried beating of his heart. Looking up from his palms, Elrond clenched his jaw to see Neera’s reaction.

The expression she held was that of a hurt and frightened child. She stared at him and blinked many times, her lashes fluttering as she struggled to compose herself.

“I hear you.” she muttered quietly. “I apologize to have made people worry so much but.” The young girl looked back up at Elrond, her eyes harder than crystal as she straightened her back in utter pigheadedness.

“He told me not to go outside again. I have a feeling that if I stay there, I will never leave.”

Elrond shifted a bit, feeling his heart twist at the sudden sadness in her eyes, as if she was recalling a horrid nightmare.

“I don’t want to be caged.” She quietly said, her words only audible to the lord standing before her with an unreadable expression.

“Not by anyone.”

For a moment, nothing but silence echoed between the two of them. Right when Neera had decided to retreat into the calming embrace of the trees outside, Elrond spoke.

“No one is trying to cage you, Neera.” He said, “the only one who continues to think this is you.”

Neera shifted uncomfortably standing near the doorway. She didn’t move.

With a sigh, Elrond moved towards her. When she didn’t make a move to run away, Elrond took her into a warm embrace. At first the young elandili kept herself rigid under his arms but after a few soothing rubs on her back, the young girl slowly let herself relax under her guardian’s loving embrace.

“We are only trying to protect you, Neera” he said, the memory of Neera crying in her room instantly flashing in his mind. At that time, the usual prideful and strong headed girl had finally cracked under pressure, breaking like glass at the news of her only family finally leaving her to fend for herself.

“With war right around the corner, we just wish to keep you safe. Your mother would’ve wished for that.”

Neera kept quiet under the shelter of his arms. After a while, a quiet sigh escaped her lips before she raised her arms, wrapping them around Elrond’s slim waist.

“Thank you.” she quietly muttered before pulling away from the tall elf.

“But I still don’t wish to go back there.”

Elrond had to resist the urge to roll his eyes. ‘ _What a stubborn girl_.’ he thought as he sighed once again, smiling a bit when he saw the brightness slowly flashing back into Neera’s eyes.

Thinking that Elrond was probably getting annoyed with her stubbornness, she fully turned to him, rooting herself in place and feeling the slight blush on her cheeks.

“I’m not going back because I don’t want to be rude.” She said in a rush of words, the embarrassment on her cheek as pink as a baby’s skin. Turning her back to lord Elrond, she muttered: “I’ll try to be a little nicer.” Before she marched out the door, taking long and soundless strides.

Left in the silence of his study, Elrond could only chuckle as he realized a tiny detail. There are very few people that girl doesn’t like being rude to.

 _‘Lord Thranduil must’ve done_ something _right._ ’ he thought, turning to his desk and pouring himself a glass of water, still chuckling in complete amusement at the sight of young Neera blushing.

* * *

 

The fire crackled in the mantle, warming the Elvenking’s sullen face as he continued staring at the orange tendrils curling over each other as they crunched and crackled against the glowing wood.

It’s been four days since Neera had left with his son and Thranduil was knee deep in concerns for the army he was preparing. After almost two months, it’s been reported to him that Thorin Oakenshield had finally made it back to Erebor. Other than that ill news, he’s also been told that the dragon had finally been vanquished, taken by a black arrow before it fell to its death.

With this newfound information, the Elvenking could only feel the buzz of excitement humming deeply under his skin. He had to get to that mountain.

 Even till this day, he could still remember the diamonds shining brightly like stars under his icy gaze before the chest had slammed shut before his face, the taunting grin of the king under the mountain still stamped in his memory. Once again, the dwarves had taken something that did not belong to them and stubbornly refused to give back what was rightfully theirs. Just thinking about it made his eyes darken under the fire.

The sound of steel clinking against each other made its way to his ears, he waited.

“My lord,” a guard had spoken, “we are ready.”

Setting his jaw, the Elvenking straightened his neck, suddenly feeling the weight of the silver armor he donned. Turning to leave his chambers, the guard waited for him. Before the Elvenking could leave the room, he paused next to his guard and quickly saw Neera’s glare in his mind. Though he knew that she was in great hands with Lord Elrond, his head was still too chaotic with the thought of her being out in the openness of Imladris.

‘ _Even Elrond himself can’t keep that child still_.’ He shuddered inwardly, thinking about what she would do if an Orc had suddenly jumped her. She would’ve surely attacked it even with her lack of ability with the sword.

“Find Legolas.” He said, “tell him to take Neera back to the Woodland Realm.”

* * *

 

Back in Rivendell, Neera was deep in slumber, her entire self buried under the silk sheets of her bed. Outside, she could hear the gentle rumbling of the waterfalls and the chirps of the crickets. And the sound of boots approaching her room.

Even with the prelude of someone coming into her room, she ignored whoever it was, keeping the sheet over her head as she took in a loosening breath through her nose. After a few hours of maneuvering around Rivendell with nothing but the light of the moon to guide her, she was too exhausted to even keep her ears open for the sound of a weapon possible unsheathing itself.

‘ _That wouldn’t be even possible._ ’ She thought drowsily, ‘ _there are guards stationed all over_.’

Not a second later, an elf with pale blonde hair entered her room, finding the young girl tumbled in the sheets, a single bare foot hanging over the bed. Legolas knit his brows a bit at the way she didn’t even flinch at his presence. Was she that exhausted?

“Neera.” He called loudly, stopping just at the doorway. After a moment, he gained a low and throaty groan in reply. When she didn’t move, Legolas grinded his teeth, trying not to sigh in exasperation. How did Lord Elrond endure this sort of childishness?

“Will you come out here for a moment?”

Not a single flinch.

Legolas huffed loudly and decided to just speak. It would be unlikely for her not to be listening anyway. Though he didn’t like her that much, the young prince was aware of the girl’s acuity.

“Father has sent me word.” He said, “He’s headed for Erebor with an army to fight and he wishes for us to return to the Woodland Realm. This is an order. We will leave tomorrow at sunrise.”

Under the sheets, Neera shuffled a bit and groaned a sloppy “Alright.” before she turned her back to the sound of his voice. Groggy, she only heard a single heavy sigh form the prince before his footfalls sounded again and slowly softened before Neera was left once again in total silence.

With great effort, the young girl pulled up a single eyelid, slightly confused.

‘ _What did he say?_ ’

Since her arms were practically covering her ears, all she could hear from the elf prince was Erebor, fight, order and leave tomorrow.

She knit her brows at herself, wondering if she had just dreamed everything. She wanted to think more about it but she couldn’t fight the heaviness of her eyelids and finally succumbed to the heavy embrace of sleep once again.

* * *

 

The morning started off with Tauriel staring at the elandili and the prince. Both of them were glaring at each other.

After a while of watching her back in the woodland realm, the captain of the guard just knew that it was Neera’s stubbornness that was holding them back again. Behind the prince, an entire army was streaming through Imladris, steadily waiting for the prince’s command to move towards Erebor.  

Sighing, Tauriel turned an ear towards them and slightly winced at their conversation.

“-don’t you think it would be safer if I was near him?” Neera asked, her voice deadly low. If other people would yell at this situation, this young one would obviously settle for trying to intimidate people with her glaring voice.

“You are not coming with us.” Legolas firmly said. “Father said-“

“If he gets angry, just tell him I didn’t listen and that it was all my fault.” Neera replied with a slight huff, resting a hand on her hip and giving the prince an impression that she was not going to budge from her spot until he agreed on taking her with them to the battle.

Oh, how he desperately wished that Lord Elrond was still with them. The old elf had left Rivendell at the break of dawn, not even bothering to say why he was leaving by himself. All Legolas knew was that Elrond seemed pale with fear and worry when he and his horse sped straight out of the gates of Imladris. Now he had this stubborn mule to worry about.

‘ _I knew you weren’t listening_.’ He thought. Shortly after, he started thinking that he should’ve literally pulled the girl out of bed last night.

He could already see it before his eyes. His father shouting at her, Neera glaring back and the army just standing there frozen with a lack of commands from their king.

Legolas was about to threaten her with Lord Elrond’s name when unexpectedly, the girl sighed, clicking her tongue in annoyance.

“Fine.” she growled, already turning on her heel, seemingly headed back for Elrond’s home. “I will stay here.”

The prince was about to ask if she was telling the truth but Neera was already gone. After a few moments of scanning his surroundings and looking for that head of midnight hair, Legolas finally gave up with a sigh.

Tauriel came up next to him. “I doubt she’d be foolish enough to lie to you.” she said, “and I think that even with her childishness, she knows how bad battles can get.”

Gazing at the captain of the guard for a moment, Legolas sighed and finally led the army out of Rivendell. They had to move fast. After delivering the army, he and Tauriel had arranged to look for clues about the Orcs’ strategy. At present, surely everyone had gotten wind about Smaug’s death. All sorts of characters would be crawling towards the unguarded treasury of the mountains and its great geographical advantage in battle.

With one last attempt to see if Neera had indeed gone back into the safety of Elrond’s home, the young prince and his army strode out of Rivendell.

 

Once the last soldier was far enough that she couldn’t hear the clinks of their armor anymore, Neera silently jumped off the tree branch, clutching her bow in hand before securing it on her back along with her quiver.

“Stay in the Woodland Realm, he said.” Neera muttered under her breath as she quietly jogged after the army. Even from a safe distance, she could still feel their footsteps stomping the ground and waking every creature underground.

“It would be safer there, he said.” Neera rolled her eyes at this. If the realm was ever caught under siege of Orcs, she would be no safer than she is in the battlefield.

“Being close to you is safer, idiot.” she growled.

Though she was annoyed with the Elvenking’s much too protective orders, deep in her chest, she could feel her heart fluttering in absolute worry. Even she knew about how many creatures yearned to take Erebor into their clutches. It was rich and its location was a great advantage over foreign enemies. She knew she wasn’t much, but Neera wanted to at least make sure the Elvenking wouldn’t end up killing himself.

Instantly, her mind taunted her with thoughts if the king lying on his back, probably struck with a sword or an arrow through his heart. She almost whimpered.

“Fool.” she muttered once again, quickening her pace and trying not to get overly excited at the thought of seeing that head of silky smooth hair again.

* * *

 

He was unaware of everything going on in her mind. But as he and his army marched towards Erebor with a wagon full of food and drink for the humans said to be residing in the old ruins of Dale, he could feel his chest twisting for some reason.

Furrowing his thick, pale brows, Thranduil straightened his back, swallowing and absolutely oblivious of the fact that he would be meeting Neera once again and this time, it was in the heat of a battle field.


End file.
